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Girl Gets Her Man

By: Truth74



"Girl, you need a man."

Joanne Croix looked up from her cubicle and sighed, "huh?"

She knew exactly what her best friend, Jesse Tolliver, was going to say next. She still went along with the game, even though they both knew it was useless.

"I said you need a man. A big fine young brother to relieve you of all of that stress you have pent up in these shoulders," the 20 year old reached out and pinch one of Joanne's shoulder blades for emphasis. Jo had the habit of crouching over her books as if she were an old lady who'd forgotten her glasses.

"I'm fine, Jess."

"The hell you are. You're hangin out in research on a Friday night," the girl teased.

"This is where I want to be."

"I tell you. You're gonna be an old lady, then nobody'll look at you twice."

Jesse sat down and leaned over the dividing wall of the cube next to Jo's. Even if the girl tried to hide them, she'd still have bigger breasts than half the school. Jo wished she had a tenth of what Jess had all over. She was the only person that would even bother to try to get Jo out these days. She had made the choice back in high school to be introverted so that she wouldn't have to make the effort to have relationships. Jesse never understood that and took every opportunity to force friends onto her. As a senior in biochemistry, she didn't have much time left for the games. She had two different lab positions on top of her coursework to worry about. Friends would mean too much energy. Lately, Jesse was talking about men. Joanne had seen guys that she was interested in, but the same rule applied. A man wasn't in the cards until, maybe, after graduation.

"Nobody looks at me once as it is. I'm tired of being the one that drives your car home. Just leave me be. I'll talk to you on Monday."

"You are too smart for your own good. That's what your problem is. A sister takes the time out to come all the way up into this mausoleum, and what does she get? A bunch a shit. I have half a mind to tell Gary you ain't worth it."

"Gary? Now, I know I'm not goin anywhere with you tonight. I don't know a Gary. You're settin me up again."

"Damn, Jo. You don't have to marry them, just get a little something. Please! Please, sweety. You have to help me! The boy is lookin fine tonight." The boy meant her Terrence. "I just want you to come and have some fun for once. It'll be nice just to look at this one," Jess smiled as she slid off of the desk. "Besides, it's open mike out at The Bans. We can laugh at the bad voices."

"That's your thing." Jo smiled back as she gathered her books and shut down the terminal she was working at. "I won't promise I'll have fun."

"Sure, sure. Here." Jesse tossed a shirt at her. "Let's not leave those fine men waiting."

The girl had raided Jo's closet again. She went into the nearest bathroom and slipped out of her t-shirt and bra. Jess was relentless with picking out all of the spaghetti strap shirts. Joanne didn't even remember buying a bright yellow shirt. It had to have been way back in the back of her closet. It fit, so it definitely wasn't Jessica's. She knew she'd be cold, so she covered up with the light jacket she kept in her bag. She quickly fixed her ponytail and put some cold water on her face. When Jo came out of the bathroom, Jesse complained about how long it took, like Jo knew she would. They took the stairs down, instead of the elevator. Jo felt she needed the exercise. Someone had been leaving her these yummy hot chocolates at her cubicle when she worked late at research. The first time it happened, she left the cup at her cube. She'd been sure that it was meant for someone else.  It couldn't have been for her. Not one person had said three words strung together to her since she started at the office. The next time, there was a little note stuck to the side that said, "Drink Me! I'm not the ordinary hot chocolate. I took months to perfect. I'm too good to go to waste! Yes, I mean you!" Her first sip had been a tentative one. It could have been drugged or something. The flavor went straight to her brain. She'd let out a long sigh just from that little bit of chocolate. It had been a spiritual experience. It was as though the person knew exactly what her perfect cup of hot chocolate would taste like. There was no way that she could pass up a cup when it appeared on her desk. It would call out to her as she tried to pack up to go home. Even cold, it was like a miracle to her senses. If she ever found out who it was, she would...

"Girl, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing."

"The hell you were. What is it?"

"You know, when I stay late?"

"Yeah," Jesse prodded. "Go on."

"Somebody's been giving me some hot chocolate."

"I know."

"It's you?" Jo had hoped that it was her friend being nice, but she saw by the look on her face that the idea was ludicrous. She'd pursed her full lips and looked sideways at Jo as if she were crazy.

"No, but I've been keeping a look out for a couple weeks. I noticed all of those cups, you know? I'm not stupid. When you tell me you're broke, you usually are. Those are some of the big cups. We're talkin big money, Jo. You probably have one of these nerds you work with all sweaty. Not to say that I wouldn't take advantage of all of that, you know for grades, but you need to figure out who it is before you start breakin out or something."

"Really," she put a hand up to her face. "I don't usually break out..."

"Ha, if I had your skin, I'd be showing more of it."

"Yeah, knowing you, you'd be in nothing but some pasties and a thong."

They both laughed as they pushed the access door open on the first floor. It was a very warm night for September, but Jo felt the cold down to her bones. The campus wasn't deserted anymore. There were all of these bright and happy young face all around. She pulled her jacket shut and greeted Terrence who was standing by his car next to an almost carbon copy of himself. Terry was definitely all man. From his well-groomed head straight down to his clean sneakers, he was the epitome of Mars, the god of war. Though she'd never seen him angry, she just knew he could be strong and unyielding. 'And hot,' she thought to herself. As he always did, he gave her a nod and focused all of his attention on his girl, Jesse. There was no reason to waste time on Jo.

"Oh, by the way, this is Gary. Gary, get the door for Jo."

Gary was a little shorter than Terrence, with a bit more bulk around his shoulders. She figured he was on the wrestling team or something like that. He was very lean for football. Basketball could have been another option. Gary walked over to the car and smiled at her. She smiled back and hoped he would be a nice guy. He slid in next to her and said, "That's a nice shirt. It kind of makes you glow."

"Thank you," she blushed. "Jesse picked it out."

"Oh, yeah? What's your style like?"

"A pair of jeans and a t-shirt."

"Miss casual. Too bad," he smiled again, which made her feel a bit uneasy. He had perfect teeth. "I thought I might get to see more of you. Perhaps some other time."

'Strike one handsome. But only half a strike for charm.'

"There's not much more to see."

"Oh, don't listen to her. From what I heard from her ex, she has potential to be something else all together in bed."

'What the hell? What did she think she was doing? What ex? I've never said anything to her about an ex.'

"Well," Gary laughed, "We'll just have to see about that."

The moment the car stopped at The Bans, Jo hopped out. She hated the whole idea of being talked about like a slab of meat. She followed the three as they made their way to the entrance. There was a crowd. She allowed Gary to catch her hand so she didn't get lost. It wasn't a surprise that Jesse knew the bouncers and got them in before a bunch of people. The men paid for the first round of drinks, which consisted of three beers and a soda. Joanne just never got into alcohol. It just made things frightening for her, so she designated herself the driver. The night wasn't so bad. Gary seemed more pleasant as the night wore on. His attention on her seemed a bit much, but she assumed it was because she wasn't used to the whole social aspect of dating. She laughed a little too readily at his jokes. She hated that in herself, but she wanted him to like her. She wanted to be accepted. Most of the men she met were scared off by her education. Jesse leaned over and said, "This boy has white bread all over him. How much do you want to bet this guy is gonna sing Hot Blooded, or some shit like that? Oh wait, you don't have any money. Never mind."

Jo turned around and saw a tall white guy. He seemed older than the average college fare, so she didn't think much. He was more than likely one of those transfer students that slipped in mid-semester. She couldn't complain. She was one of those herself. They were all the same around here. The disheveled dark brown hair and baggy clothes didn't really distinguish him from anyone. She turned back to Gary and was about to excuse herself to go to the restroom when she heard it. The piano. He did a quick run of the keys then looked around. The mc gave him permission, and he started his song. She'd never heard the song before, but the voice seemed familiar for some reason. His voice gave her chills when he put emphasis on certain words. She tried to listen to the words but was close enough to just barely see the flourish of his fingertips across the keys. She'd always wanted to play the piano, but there was never enough money. She'd given up on the idea a long time ago, but the joy of the sound remained. When his song was done, she looked up into a pair of dark eyes. The crowd erupted in approval. He stared right back at her for an instant before she glanced away. The mc rasped, "Ok, no ringers in here. You're with the college, right?" The man nodded. The mc laughed and said, "A music major, right?" He shook his head and leaned into the mic on the piano to say, "Biochemistry." "Well, that's some bullshit if I ever heard it," was the response of the mc. "You're wasting your time with the test tubes. Come back and use the piano anytime."

He got up and walked off of the stage. Biochemistry. That was her major. She tried to think of all of the faces she'd come across in the halls or in classes. She didn't remember him. She couldn't. She didn't spend much time looking in people's faces, though. Now, she wished she'd been more attentive. She watched him get a drink from the bar. He looked her way again, and she had a feeling he knew her. She turned to Gary and excused herself. She really did have to go to the bathroom, but it occurred that leaving this man's line of sight might help her out. She hoped there wouldn't be much of a line. There was. When she finally got back to the table, the guy was gone. Jesse was ready to hit the dance clubs. Jo immediately responded with, "I'd better get back to my work."

"Hell, no. You're coming dancing," Jesse snipped. "Get your jacket on. We're leaving."

At the club was hot and too loud. She wasn't the type to dance, so she ended up at the bar alone. Jo assumed, once he realized she wouldn't be putting out, Gary had moved on to a few beautiful girls. Her mind wasn't even there. It was going over the song that still swam through her head. She watched as Gary stretched and swayed in the crowd. Jesse was right, he was a bit of eye candy for a girl that didn't get out much. He was good for looking, but not touching. Somehow along the way she'd become the girl that guys only talked to to get close to her friends. Jo was tired of it. She could recall numerous occasions when a guy would introduce himself, or even buy her a drink, just to get Jessica's name and number. Jo slipped past the bouncer who asked, "Jesse's leaving early?"

"No, I am."

"Oh, well alright. Have a good night." He'd seemed a bit too relieved to see her go.

She caught the bus back to campus and walked the rest of the way back to the building. 'I really should have told her I was leaving, but I left a message on her cell phone while I was on the bus.'

Research had become so routine that she was looking forward to adding her new numbers to the database. She opened the door to the back entrance without looking around. 'No one would dare bother a coal black bitch such as misself. I might cast voodoo.' She smiled to herself as she glanced back into the darkness. The mental trick had worked again. No one would know she was so afraid of that lot to look at her strong strides. When the door shut with a click, she sighed. This would be the only time that she hoped fro a relationship. If she'd had a strong arm around her as she walked through, she probably wouldn't have been so afraid. She knew she would have had to make the time for it.  "I wish I had someone with me anyway." She climbed the stairs to the third floor and pushed open the heavy doors. It was nearly dark except for the far hallway. Someone else was on the floor. There was always someone in that back office. She never did get up the nerve to go and introduce herself. 'If they don't bother me, I won't bother them," she shrugged as she opened the door to her little office. It wasn't really hers. She shared it with some people she didn't know. As a matter of fact, she wouldn't know them if she passed them on the elevator or sat next to them in the cafeteria. The system worked very well for her. She would get most of her work done at night and they would do what they needed during the day. She remembered the morning that Dr. Samuels had conned her into taking the late shift.

She'd walked right into his ploy by responding to the parameters of the experiment and the posted schedule for observation. Every hour during the day was labeled. The evening hours were nowhere to be found. He said he'd watch the numbers himself overnight. The caring person that she was, she took the bait. "I don't agree, sir. I think we could easily set up shifts. That way we don't have one person doing all of the nights. If we're supposed to check them on hourly intervals, then there should be a few of us in the lab to do the check," her voice had been firm.

"That's exactly what I thought you would say, Crux. That's why your name is right here on the list for overnight. Do I have any other volunteers?"

She'd whispered under her breath, "My name is Croix, like toy."

The man never did get her name right. Even now, he was probably saying "crux" to his wife about her. Her job was to go through the cages and do an hourly check of fluid intake and then every few days, she changed the bedding for the rodents. Everyone was scheduled to do changes. If the cubes were filthy, she'd do it everyday. There was no need for the little guys to suffer because the others were careless. Control first then the progressively more involved subjects. She was very good at making the appropriate check marks and she could remember the rats by id number easily enough.

Three of her office mates didn't bother to empty the trash. At least, she assumed there were three of them with all of the garbage they left around the office. Jesse couldn't understand the arrangement. She would pick through other people's things and sit on important papers. Jo wasn't the sort to do that. After that night, she didn't feel like doing much of anything. That guy had found time to play in a bar. He must be nearly done or a slacker. She shook the thought out of her head and sat down at her cube. There was a napkin on top of everything. She hadn't left it there. She turned it over and read, "All work and no play makes Jane a dull girl. No Chocolate today. Date? Have Fun."

She turned it back over, but it was just a plain white napkin. This guy was good. He saw her leave. She didn't remember any odd faces looking at her. Stalker? It had to be one of the other three people in the office. She would be more careful when she came and went. This had to stop.

She wrote under the message, "No more Chocolate, please. My weight can't take it. Joanne."

'Hmm, it's too hard to erase Joanne from it.' She spent twenty minutes debating on whether to toss the napkin into the trash. Then, she thought it would be rude to not leave any note. The napkin would have to do. 'I'll just leave it here when I go. I hope he isn't a stalker. Maybe it isn't even a he.'

When she got in, the sun was rising and Jesse was nowhere to be found. Jo didn't worry. The answering machine light was blinking. She was with Terrence.

>

She settled into bed quickly but didn't get any rest. She spent the whole morning wondering about her mystery man. She slogged her way through the late morning classes and got herself a cappuccino to perk herself up. She knew that it was cutting in on her food budget, but she wasn't a stranger to peanut butter and jelly. She downed it and did her homework when it kicked in. She couldn't focus on the page, much less write down the answers. Jo let out a sigh and closed her eyes. She put her fingers over her lips and laughed at herself. This always happened. That's why she never touched coffee. She held up a shaking hand and decided that she should do something different. She ran her hand across her face and looked around. All of the nearby faces were in books. She looked around in her bag for her mp3 player. She put the little ear buds in her ears and listened.

She studied the patterns in the tiles as she let her mind drift with the music. She closed her eyes and let two or three songs go by before finishing off the last bits of the cappuccino at the bottom of the cup. 'If I'm staying up, I might as well enjoy the last bit of it.'

She picked up her stuff and went to class. She would definitely need to go over the lecture again, because her heart wasn't into class at all. Her heart had been racing in her ears. She stopped by a few club offices to double check the meeting schedule. She made sure she wrote all of the changes down. She ran into Jesse on her way to some psychology class or another and said a quick hello.

"Gary wants to do you," she gave as her parting shot.

She froze. 'What was that supposed to mean?' She certainly didn't want to do him, did she? She hadn't even thought of it. It wasn't safe to think that way before she was comfortable. She hadn't done anybody in a few years. It had been the wrong thing to give up her virginity, but she didn't have much of a choice at the time. She reaffirmed her promise to make it worthwhile the next time. She'd felt nothing when Gary took her hand. Not even a little warmth from his hand. No, she didn't want to do Gary. 'Well, maybe just a little bit, to see what he might be like?' Her mystery man definitely had a good chance at it, though.

Jo busied herself with work for as long as she could. She even went down to the basement of the lab sciences building and checked on the rats a few extra times. She watched the main entrance of lab sciences until she was sure no strange stalker type left for the day. She went up to her office and unlocked the door. The other cubicles were as dirty as ever.  'Whoever this guy is, he's a slob.' She cleared up her cube and went to her desk. There was the napkin and a fat free blueberry muffin with a sheet of paper underneath. She read the napkin.

"What the lady wishes, so shall I do. Pleasing Joanne remains my soul desire. However, her visage can be neither improved upon nor diminished by a few wayward ounces. I pray thee, allow me to ply with yon snack fare. Lighter than the chocolate, but no less enjoyable? Daniel."

'Okay, it's definitely a guy....with a strange way of writing. Archaic, how...sweet? Yeah, sweet, but weird.' She knew that this could be some kind of a joke, or worse a way of getting an ugly girl to the ugly chick party that fraternities throw at the end of the year. She let her hair down and gathered it back into her customary ponytail. She couldn't stand it when her shoulder length hair tickled her ear lobes. She had to have every strand carefully contained.


Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 02



He leaned over Joanne and softly intoned, "Joanne, just let me know when you're heading out, okay?"

The slow low way that he'd said it made her shudder. It had definitely been too intimate. 'Intimate. His voice was like... like we were in bed together.' She nodded as she watched him slide the calculator into his bag and stand up. When he skirted around them to get out of the room, Jesse smiled and let out a little giggle. Jo had never seen her do that before.

Jesse watched him walk down the hall and turn the corner. When she was sure he was far away, Jesse slammed the door and dragged Jo to the back of the room. "What the hell did I just walk into?"

"Nothing, Jess. He's one of the people that share this office."

Jo refused to look at her friend, because she knew the girl could tell when she was lying. Jesse asked, "What's his name again?"

"Uh, Daniel," she murmured as she flipped through her papers. 'Concentrate on the papers. Don't show any kind of emotion. She will flay you.'

"How do you know that?"

"He told me when he came in here." She pulled out her calculator and started to punch in numbers.

"Why aren't you looking at me?"

'Don't look up at her!' "Because I need to get this stuff done. That's why I'm here."

"That's crap. What the hell is this?"

Jo glanced sideways at Jesse. Jesse had picked up the cup and opened the lid. "Hot chocolate?"

"Yeah, it's hot chocolate..."

"Was that him? Hot Chocolate is a white boy? Ooh, wait until I tell Terrence..."

"Hey, you told Terrence?" Jo sputtered, "It's not like that. He saw me working late. He works at the coffee shop by The Bans. He probably..."

"He likes you. Smart man. He knew you wouldn't talk, so he left hot chocolate. You have to at least want to hit it once to give 'em food..."

"Jesus," she was about to swear, "give me strength. I'm not interested in him. He's just the type of person that worries. He said something about women walking in the parking lot at night."

"You're not seriously buying that shit, are you?"

"Why haven't you ever worried about me getting home okay?"

"Well, I figured, if you didn't get back by six, I'd call the cops."

"Gee, thanks. Some friend you are. I leave for home around four. I'd be dead and buried before you made the call."

"Fuck you, too," Jesse snorted and took a sip of chocolate. Jo turned back to the probability plot she was working on her calculator. She was just about to press enter when Jesse let out a snort and then a giggle. The giggle slowly turned into a loud laugh. Jo couldn't take the sound. It just grew louder as Jesse arched toward her.

"What," she finally rasped.

"Just look at your face. This kinda thing's never happened to you before. I would've thought he would go after me first. I mean if he wanted to go for the exotic, he should've given me a call."

"What?"

"Oh, you know I don't turn down any action. I've always wondered what it would be like. Why didn't he just come up to you? Is he a freak? I bet he is. Mr. Hot Chocolate probably likes it all weird and shit. He's fine. He should know he's fine. So what's the deal? He probably wants you to spank that tight ass..."

"Jesse, please!" Jo hated it when she talked like that.

"What? You're actually considering it? You don't want a freak to be your first time."

"He wouldn't be my first," Jo said.

Jesse sucked her teeth. "The way you act around men, I figured you were still a virgin."

"I just don't flaunt it around."

"So when was this? It's probably been a good four or five years. Hell, that don't count. It was probably some pimply, ashy boy."

"It counts to me," Jo protested. "It's not like I do it like you do, but I'm not a virgin. Let's leave it at that."

"You might as well be. Give Gary a little bit of attention and he'll take care of the rest. Forget about Mr. Hot Chocolate. I'll check him out."

'I bet you would.' Jo smiled, "Okay, you want him you can have him. But, I don't think I want to hear about it." 'Especially if he's a freak.'

"Well, I gotta go. Terry's probably wonderin where I am. You think about Gary. I told him you were a virgin, but hey, he'll take it slow. You'll love it."

"Okay," Jo said for Jesse's benefit. She wasn't too interested in Jesse's leftovers.

Jesse kissed her on the cheek and left her to do her calculations. She found a few numbers that seemed wrong, and she had to go through her notes to see if there was a math error. She let out a yawn. It was close to four. She packed up her papers and went down to the entrance closest to the parking lot. She had gone out before she remembered Daniel. She tried to get back in but the door was locked. She sighed. She turned and went for her car. That's when she felt the hand on her back. She'd trained for this for three years, now. She knew exactly what to do, though she hoped she didn't have to. She jumped and turned with her keys pointed toward her attacker.

Daniel raised his hands in defense, and moved back from her. "It's okay. I didn't mean to startle you."

"I thought you were..." She sighed for his benefit. "Oh, never mind."

"I came out here to wait for you. I figured you'd forget about me. You did forget about me, didn't you?"

He smiled gently down at her, but she didn't smile back. "Okay," he sighed. "I wanted to prove to you how much you need me. I guess you don't."

He turned his back to her and started off toward the streetlight on the corner.

"Dan?" She heard herself call after him. 'What are you doing? He just scared the crap out of you!'

"Yes?" He spun around and smiled hopefully at her.

"Walk me to my car?"

"Of course," he said as he reached for her arm. She tried not to let him see her flinch away. She put her arm inside his. He put a hand over hers, and they walked slowly. When they reached her car, he released her hand. She opened the car door and got in. Daniel grabbed the door before she shut it and said, "You alright?" She nodded and attempted to smile. It had taken a great deal of strength to just walk with him. He lifted his hand and shook his head in the negative, "No, you're not. I'll be here, every night, Jo. Whether you want me to or not." He shut her door and raised a hand in farewell.

*

Dan had never thought that she would be so beautiful up close. He'd seen her in the shop on occasion since the start of school, but she hadn't actually talked to him. He knew she was in class, but it wasn't appropriate to go up and talk to her then. He'd rarely seen her with anyone , except for that voluptuous friend of hers. In class, that second day, she had stood up quickly to fall into Dr. Samuels' trap. He'd always enjoyed watching the most idealistic student get roped into the night shift. She'd been so firm and certain that it made him take an honest look at her. When the class ended, he'd asked quietly to relieve her from the early morning hours, so that she'd get some sleep. Samuels had told him he was nuts, but he insisted. He'd stayed calm and managed to convince her to give him a shot, which was a miracle in itself. It had been nearly two years since he'd decided to step out of the whole dating scene. He'd needed the time to convince himself that he was worth more than what was out there. He felt better than a simple convenient relationship. He wanted to know about a woman as completely as he could. He wanted to be able to discuss matters with her, without having to feel that he should hold back for fear of hurting her feelings. He wanted a woman that was level headed. Above all, he wanted to avoid sex until he was past the lust phase. He'd come so close to being a father that he'd offered to marry a girl once. He hadn't really known her and the situation forced him to realize that what he did know was detestable. His perfect match would be his friend and companion before she was his lover and wife. Period. There was one catch. Everything about Joanne made him excited. Even when she'd looked up at him in confusion, it was the most attractive widening of her eyes he'd ever seen. His father had always said that the initial rush was not necessarily a good thing. The warning had been very insistent, so he took it to heart. He planned to take it very slow. He'd see her at night, when there were no interruptions and awkward explanations. Then, if things went well, he'd see where the wind blew. He didn't notice he'd crossed the street and walked to his door, until he noticed the special bricks outside the entrance. When he looked up, her friend was standing there before him. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was tapping her toes.

"So, Hot Chocolate, huh?"

"Uh, yes. I'm Daniel." He scanned the woman's face.

"Yeah, I know. You don't remember me, do you?"

"You're Joanne's friend."

She moved toward him and grabbed his shirt. "Yeah, and I'm Candy's, too . She and I used to talk at the clubs. What the hell are you doing?"

"I don't know what you mean," he tried.

"You go from Candy to Jo? No offense to my girl, but she's not even half of Candy, and she's black!"

"Okay, are you mad because I'm interested in Joanne, or because I'm interested in black Joanne? If this is a cultural issue..."

"Jo is a good girl. Candy was a freak," she put a hand in his shirt and felt his abdomen. "What you need is another freak to turn you out. What would Candy say, if I told her you were going after some naïve little girl?"

"Jo is not some little girl. She can make her own choices, just like Candace did."

"Joanne," she purred as she moved her hand down to his crotch, "doesn't know thing one about pleasing a man. She's probably never even seen one of these. I know what Candy's capable of. You're gonna get really bored, really quick. You're probably doing this to get back at her. That's gonna hurt my girl, and I can't let that happen."

He pulled her hand off of his crotch and said, "Candy and I were through a long time ago. I'm sure she's forgotten about me by now. She wasn't what I needed. I can see that now."

She snaked her hands around his neck and pulled him down to her level. "Hmm, she had you trailing her like a dog. Just because you think you're smart, don't think she doesn't still have you. Hell, I could feel that you're feeling me. Where does that leave Jo? I know some of what you like..."

He smoothly said, "I won't do what you're wanting. I don't want her back. I want to get to know Joanne. I'm one thing you and Candy obviously aren't. I'm monogamous."

"Monogamous, huh? Jo's feeling Gary. I could see it on her face when they were talking."

"I'm willing to wait on her."

"So, you're turning me down?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'm a one woman man."

She pressed her lips to his and murmured. "What for? If you're curious about what it would be like with a black girl, why not go for me?"

He gripped her right wrist and spun her away from him. He stood up straight and smoothed his shirt.

"Because, I don't have a spark for you. It's not her color, it's the whole package. Let me tell you why it isn't you..."

-

The next morning Joanne woke up in a cold sweat. Jesse was sitting at the foot of her bed.

"You okay? You've been rolling around like crazy. You better be getting up. It's nearly time for class."

She groaned at her friend, "How was Terrence?"

"Oh, I decided to check out Mr. Hot Chocolate."

Jo looked at Jesse with as much animosity as she could, but didn't say anything. She shouldn't have been angry. She had told Jesse it was okay. She wasn't sure how to feel. The guy had obvious feelings for her. That should have counted for something. Her friend didn't look back at her.

"He's really polite. I caught him going into that coffee place. I buttered him up a bit, made the offer, and he told me no. Can you believe that? The guy turned me down."

"Well, I don't know." She smiled inside. It did count for something.

"He said he had feelings for one woman, and he wasn't gonna mess things up with her. Fuck if it wasn't you."

"Christ, Jess. Your mouth," Jo hissed as she pulled on her pants.

"Fuck my mouth. You need to dust this guy before he goes stalker on you."

"Because he wouldn't sleep with you?"

"Because of all of the flowery words he used when he told me no. This guy has got to be some major freak. He's probably bi, or something. Did you get that from him?"

"I don't know, Jess." Jo opened her pack and made sure what she needed was in there.

"Maybe, Terry and I should come and get you in the mornings."

"No, he doesn't seem like the serial killer sort..."

"Listen to yourself. Serial killers don't seem like serial killers."

"I'm fine. His stock goes up every time you mention how he turned you down."

*

That night he came by at about three and pulled up a chair next to hers in the terminal room.

"Your friends a bit forward, you know?"

"She told me you turned her down. She was disappointed." Jo continued to type.

"I'd say she was down right offended. Did she tell you what I said?"

"No, but she said it was flowery."

"Flowery. You want the truth?"

She typed without responding.

"I told her about the moment I decided on you. You were in line at the shop. You let this obnoxious girl get in front of you. You could have fought, but you just let it go. I knew by the look on your face that you were struggling with it for a few seconds before you let it go. Huh. You just forgave her. You didn't look like the caffeine type, so I just slipped a hot decaf mocha latte to Fred before you got there. When you noticed it, you smiled at him. I knew the smile should have been mine. Then you sat down to read by yourself. There's something in the way that your face gets when you concentrate on something. I wanted to see it up close. The way that you purse your lips and smile to yourself. You were instantly the standard to measure every other girl to. When you walked into my class, it was a bonus, because I thought I'd never see you again. I think she rolled her eyes at that point and walked away."

She turned to look at him. "That wasn't flowery. It was a bit..." 'romantic'

She remembered that day. The other girl had shoved her aside and said something about being late. That free latte was just the thing she needed.

"Did I mention the part where I liken you to a Greek statue and dub you my muse?"

"Okay, that's a bit over the top."

"It's true. Songs are tumbling out of me. I can't concentrate on plots," he confided inches from her ear.

"Maybe, you need to go back to days," she sighed as she turned back to her typing, "if I have that kind of an influence."

"Maybe," he whispered, "I should marry you and get it over with."

Stunned, she looked up quickly and tried not to smile at his smiling face. "You're crazy."

"Yeah," he smiled. "Scared yet? I know I am."

"A little. But I figure you'll get tired of all of this soon."

"You are a study in patience. However, there's something about you, Jo. I can't put my finger on it, now. You want to give me a hint?"

She got ready to fire a tart remark, when she looked up at him. She hated the way that he made her heart jump when he made that smiling, curious face.

She blushed instead, "I'm not sure what you mean. I'm not nice like you think."

"As far as I am concerned, your virtue is above reproach."

"By virtue, I hope you don't mean what I think you mean. I'm ...I'm not a virgin."

An obvious blush crossed his face, which was quickly covered with a dip of his head and a smile. "I'm not sure I needed to know that. I'm certain there've been others. I'm no spring lamb, myself. I don't plan on asking you about yours. You don't ask me about mine. Fair enough?"

He stood up and offered her his hand. "May I interest you in a drink and a walk around the building?"

"A drink?"

"Yes." He offered her a brown bottle from his pack. She declined.

"It's not alcohol, see? Ginger beer. I don't drink."

She took the cool bottle and walked out into the hall with him.

"So, do you like the piano, or was it just me."

"Well," she blushed again as she struggled with the bottle cap. "I've always admired piano players."

"Here," Daniel offered, "let me." His fingers wrapped around hers and she let go of the bottle immediately. He caught the bottle with three fingers of his other hand, which made the two bottles clink together.

"There's that something," he softly said as he kept her fingers in his. "What is this?" She didn't want him to ask her, but her hand was shaking in his grasp.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Who did this to you?"

"Did what? I'm just a little jumpy tonight."

He swiftly raised his hand and scratched his forehead. She saw the movement from the corner of her eye. Before she realized where the hand was going, she'd arched away and tried to break from his fingers.

"So, he hit you," he let out a noise that sounded like a laugh.

"Dan, that's not funny. Let go," she forced herself to sound calm. Somehow, he knew exactly what buttons to push to make her upset. He moved against her so that her thigh made contact with his. He then pulled her stiffened body into his arms. The bottles were cold on her back as he studied her face for what seemed like an eternity.

After he held her gaze for a moment, he softly said, "I wasn't trying to be funny. How far did it go?"

"It doesn't matter," she breathed. "Let go of me, please." She heard her voice tremble and knew he heard it too.

"You were referring to that before, weren't you," he whispered with his lips on her forehead. He slowly loosed his grip around her and pulled away. He watched her shiver for a moment. He ran a hand through his hair and asked, "When was it?"

His lips on her head had transmitted a shock down to her spine. It was too intimate a gesture and she resented it after she got over how warm it felt. She had the urge to spill every sordid detail of her life. It wouldn't matter anyway. He wasn't serious, anyway. He'd just laugh about it to his buddies after the hag ball. 'I don't need to tell you anything.' She went back into the terminal room and gathered her things together. He leaned in the doorframe and said, "I'm sorry."

"About what?" She readjusted her bag. Denial had always worked before.

"You're rattled. If some guy hurt you..."

"Nobody hurt me. I'm fine..."

"Don't lie to me, Jo," his words were low and menacing. "You're not very good at it."

'How the hell would you know? Have you met my mother?' "Fine, I don't want to talk to you, right now. I need to go, now."

"Okay, I'll walk you out."

"Okay." She let her breath out slowly. For some reason she'd been expecting a fight. He didn't press for information like she'd thought he would. He grabbed his jacket and walked with her to her car. His hand pressed gently into the small of her back as he guided her along. When they got to the car, the hand slipped across her back and to her elbow. Her arm tingled as he held her there silent. When she moved away, she made sure she wasn't looking into his eyes. The car door was opened as fast as possible, and she got in.

He held on to her door as he had the time before and leaned down. "Every night, Joanne. I gave my word. See you Monday?"

He shut the door for her and put two fingers on the glass. He drew the fingers to his eyes. She wanted so much not to see anything different in those eyes, but it was there. She wasn't sure what. She assumed it was pity, because she felt pretty pitiful after that display of nerves. As she pulled out of her space and drove away, he just stood there.



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 03



Dan got back into the building and nearly ran over Jesse.

"Where is she?"

"I walked her to her car," he said as he continued toward the terminals. "Have a good morning."

"Hey," she called after him. "I talked to Candy. She says you need to lay off of my girl."

An indescribable pain resurfaced deep in his chest. He didn't want it to be there anymore. He turned and slowly said, "I told you that Candy and I don't talk. I don't want anything to do with her."

"That's funny, cause she wants to do with you."

"That's nice. I have work to do," he attempted to distance himself.

"Look, Danny, she says she's sorry. She says she still loves you. Give her a shot."

"You know, I haven't seen her in over two years, and I don't plan to see her anytime soon," he calmly said and turned back down the hall.

He wasn't sure how to react . She'd ripped out his heart. He couldn't help but think about how they'd pretty much spent their lives together. Candy was so good to him. Candace Marie Rosetta.

*

That morning he was nothing but an obstacle at the shop. Saturday was a rush at the shop with a lot of extra people in for the football game. He was a little distracted by what Jo had refused to say. He'd felt something was a little off with her that first night he walked her to her car. He'd brushed it off as her being nervous about him. Now, it wasn't just him. It was the fact that he was a man paying attention to her. He would have to keep this something in mind whenever he was with her.  His dad kept telling him to go upstairs and work it out. He needed to clear his head and a little keyboard in his room wasn't going to cut it. He got a nap in the afternoon, and decided to work it out at the Bans. He told his father where he was off to and took the 20 ft walk. It was packed with unfamiliar faces. He got a cream soda and walked up to the baby grand piano on the edge of the stage. He played two Billy Joel's and an Elton John then took a break. He caught a seat by the bar and was about to order another soda when someone touched his back. There she was. Candace Rosetta stood in front of him with her hands on her hips and a smile on her olive face. She tilted her head slightly to let her long black curly hair fall in front of her face. His favorite hairdo.

"A friend told me you were back in town," she beamed at him.

"Candy, hello," he smiled back stiffly as he offered her his hand.

"Oh, come on, Danny." She pressed her full breasts against him. "We know each other too well to be like that. So, how have you been?"

Before he realized it, his hands were entwined in her hair. It took him a moment to stop from accepting her in his arms. It was as though the years of separation hadn't happened. He forced his arms to let go. "I've been fine, Candace." He pointed his glass out to a bartender. Right now, she was clouding the reasons that he chose not to take her back.

"Yeah, I heard. So, where's this girl you're fucking?"

Okay, there was one reason. He cringed, "It's none of your business."

"She's that good, huh? I've heard a few things about her. She black? Honestly hon, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. You did not have to go there. Anything they'll do, I'll do better. She's young or something? A bit extreme isn't it? I thought you had a thing against these undergrads."

Candy had this habit of spewing malice everywhere she went. "Candy, I said it was none of your business."

"It is my business. You were mine. You'd still be mine if..." She looked at him without finishing what they both knew.

"I'm not anyone's, Candy. You made your choices. I'm over it, okay?"

She put a hand on his cheek and said, "Don't say that. I love you. I made a mistake. You know you still love me."

Two years ago, those would have been the magic words to put him back into her bed. The slow caressing way that she spoke wove her spell, but he knew where it was headed.

"We could still get married. I kept in touch with your dad. He said you might..."

He pulled out of her grasp and got back onstage. This was the one spot that Candace could not go. He searched for a song that his nervous fingers would play. How dare she confuse him like this. The bartender set the drink down on a coaster near his right hand and asked him to stick with one song. He nodded and looked away from where Candace sat watching. He spotted Jesse first, then scanned her table to see Jo. He stood up to make sure it was her. She smiled slightly when he mouthed her name. He got a hold of himself and sat back down. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and played. The first song he knew was a crowd pleaser. The next was by him for Candace. He didn't want to be mad at Candace, but she didn't seem to understand where he stood. When he finished the song, he noticed Jo talking to a man he assumed was Gary. He went back to his stool and to Candy.

"So, that's her?"

He looked into her hazel eyes and nodded.

"What is she, twelve? She seems a bit proper for you. See how she keeps to herself? You'd be lucky to get a blowjob out of her." Her eyes closed to slits and she frowned. Candace really lost her attractive charm when her face bent like that.

"It's not about that, Candy. It's about this," he grumbled as he put his hand on his chest and massaged as close to the soreness that was developing. "I don't want to feel the way I felt when I was with you."

A movement caught his eye, and Jo was on the dance floor. She shimmied and shook by herself to the rhythm. He watched her hips sway gently. He knew Candace was dissecting the girl's every flaw, but he didn't listen. It was a transformation of sorts to see her smile. She was graceful, though reserved in her sway. There was magic in the coy flutter of her eye lashes as she let a low laugh escape her lips. With every movement, she had him tightly in her grasp. He hoped she would figure out that he was taken by her. The coolness of his implied jokes were wearing thin already. When the song changed, she changed with it. The moment had ended and she was back to herself. He watched as Gary tried to draw her back to the dance, but she refused. She sat back down. The guy got too close to her as he spoke. Only politeness kept Daniel riveted to the floor next to Candy. The touches of his ex to his neck and face weren't quite holding his attention. When the jerk touched Jo's face, he could see her freeze. He saw a slight shiver as he watched her internal struggle. When she got up, he drained his drink, picked up his coat, and followed her out. After he dodged a few people he found her to his right. She just stood there trembling in the cold.

*

Jo got up earlier than usual the next morning. She was wasting time in bed anyway. Why did Daniel have to touch her? If he had just left her alone, the dreams wouldn't have returned. She'd been able to sleep normally for quite some time before she met him.

She heard keys in the door and knew that Jesse had stayed with Terrence. The shorter girl hummed to herself as she threw down her purse and strolled into the kitchen.

"Damn, you look like who lost I found. What happened to you? Was it Hot Chocolate? 'Cause I can take care of him..."

"No, I just had a bad dream is all."

"Really? You had bad ones the last couple nights, too. You sure it's not him? I can get Terrence to straighten his freak ass out..."

"He's not a freak. He's the normal one."

"Normal? The boy buys you cocoa for a month and you think he's normal?"

"It wasn't cocoa. It was the kind with a candy bar in it. You can taste the difference."

"Well, it was damn good."

"Yeah, it was great," Jo sighed. It was all great when it was just a secret admirer. Now, it was Daniel. A person who had this habit of pressing every alarm button she had.

"Hey, why don't you go out with us tonight. I already invited Gary, but I can tell him not to come if you want."

"No, I'll just work at home."

"Come sit in a chair and pretend to laugh. I've read if you go through the motions, you'd actually feel what you should."

"Am I that bad off?"

"You sure as hell are. I don't want you to be anywhere alone tonight."

She knew it was an utter mistake when she saw Daniel at the piano as they walked in. She had pulled her hair into a ponytail and picked out a nice shirt. She thought she'd be safe from seeing him for at least a few hours. It wasn't amateur night. He stopped in mid-song and started something new. He shook his head in dissatisfaction and started another one. Someone walked up to him and whispered in his ear. He nodded and looked around the room. She knew he'd spot her, so she sat down and waited. He slammed a hand down on the keys and stood up. He looked straight at her. Jo was certain everyone in the room had seen him focus on her. When he mouthed her name and slid back down, the fear was confirmed as fact. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips at his recognition of her. His face softened into a smile and he closed his eyes. The sound gently filled the room as he finally settled on a song. Jesse murmured that his song wasn't half bad. Jo didn't tell her that it was a song by Ben Folds. She wasn't up to being talked about at the moment. Her idea of a good song was more broad than most. When he finished, he went immediately into another one. This time, she didn't recognize the sound. All the time, his eyes were closed. She concentrated on her soda and half listened to what Jesse was saying to Gary as she registered every note Daniel's fingers struck.

"So piano guy has a thing for you?" She should have been paying better attention.

"Yeah." She looked away from Gary and into the bubbles of her drink.

"Look, I'm not looking for anything strange. If you're into him, it's cool. Even better for me. There's nothing like a little competition to get a man on his game. I just want an honest shot."

She rested her cheek on her hand as her elbow rested on the table. "That's nice, but I'm sure you've got girls lined up around the block. A fine, well-educated man like you doesn't need to be bothered with me."

"I'm willing to clear my slate for a very beautiful girl. I'm willing to wait, if you have a problem with rushing into things. I see the score. You're man shy. I can help you with that."

"Man shy?"

"I can tell by the way you collect yourself under the table and keep your arms close to your body. Too shy for you own good. You need a man to put all of your suspicions to rest."

He leaned forward and put his hand on hers. "I can take good care of you, when you're ready."

She forced herself to keep her hand still under his for a moment then slid out from under. "I'll keep it under advisement."

"Hey this might be worth dancing to," Jesse loudly informed. She got up and dragged Terry onto the little square designated for dancing.

Jo hadn't noticed the change of music. The sound system blared out a top 40 hit. Gary got up and rocked his hips from side to side.

"Come on, angel. Let's dance."

"I don't dance."

"Oh, come on. I won't step on your toes. Come on, Jojo."

'Jojo?' She shook her head and walked over to the square. The things a person had to put up with not to be alone. She danced to the quick music and even let out a little laugh as she bumped into Jesse in a turn. Gary's smile was genuine for once. There might have been something worthwhile in him after all. The song ended and a slow tune started. Gary raised his hands to take her and she backed away. He moved in and took her hands. "What's a dance, huh?" She pulled away again.

"I'm sorry, Gary. I can't..."

"You seemed just fine until the song change. Come on, dance with me."

She went back to her seat. Gary sat down next to her and said, "You don't want to slow dance?" He seemed disappointed. She rubbed her face and said, "I'm sorry. I haven't been sleeping well, and it just caught up with me."

"Wait," he said and quickly touched her face. "That's not makeup? You have such great skin."

The instant the back of his fingers brushed her cheek, she went from annoyed to disoriented.

"Thank you."

He took her hands in his again and said, "You're just like an angel."

Jo wasn't quite sure what to say to that. She got up as quickly as her upbringing would allow and walked out. She felt stupid for getting so upset over a simple interaction. 'A few minutes out here, and I'll be fine.'

"Jo," she heard before something draped across her shoulders. She looked down and drew the dark brown leather coat to her chest. It had been cold. She turned to Daniel and silently thanked him. He couldn't help but notice how small she looked in his coat.

"You want me to go back in there and ..."

She challenged him. "What?"

"I could tell him to back off of you," he murmured. He knew her sharpness wasn't really aimed at him.

"What for? I'm fine with it."

"I'm not. I wanted to..."

"You're not my boyfriend, Dan. He can treat me however he wants."

"I can't let him touch you like that. I couldn't stand the look on your face..."

She put her hands on his chest and pressed in every other word. "Stop it. There is no look on my face."

"It's okay for you to touch me, but it's not okay for me to touch you?" He'd nearly purred at her.

"I choose not to be touched." She dropped her hands and walked toward the car. It had been an automatic gesture. She remembered the car wasn't hers after a few steps.

"Jo, I can drive you home." Daniel's offer was more of what he would do instead of what he could do.

She was about to accept, when Gary came out with her coat.

"Piano guy, what the fuck?"

"Hey, my names Dan," Daniel offered with his hand.

"I don't care what your name is. Here, angel," he nearly smiled as he handed her coat over. "I thought I'd give you some time, but he doesn't want to wait around, does he?"

Jo slid Daniel's coat off and replaced it with her own before handing his back. 

"This isn't that big of a deal, Gary," Daniel softly said. "I live right over there. I'm in the same office with her..."

"Yeah, I know what this is," Gary raised his voice. "I know what this is, so don't try to play it off, man. Just walk up and say that you're into her instead of takin my time. Right now, she's supposed to be with me. I'm sure you get her every night, but tonight is mine."

He'd never had a reason to stare anyone down, and yet here he was. It was as though a light had come on in his brain. 

"Fine, I'm into her."

He'd never felt the need to protect anyone. The years of recreational Tae Kwon Do finally would have a purpose. He was enjoying the fact that he was ready to take this further, until he caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. She looked between the two men. She was wringing her hands. Her lips were pressed into a frown. This had never happened before. There were two men standing erect with their eyes flaring at each other. Daniel's stare was solid though she felt he would eventually back down.  She hoped he would, or this stand off would go on forever. He seemed uncomfortable even looking at Gary. The gaze finally broke when Daniel looked at her and winked. He relaxed his stance for her benefit.

"This is stupid. I was out here to relax. It doesn't look like much of that is gonna happen. Look, thanks, Gary. I had a good time talking to you tonight. Maybe, we can do it again some time. I'm gonna go. Can you tell Jesse for me?" She backed away from the both of them and headed for the nearest phone booth. She figured, 'It'll take 30 minutes to get four or five blocks to my apartment if I call a cab.'

"I'll walk you back to the lab, if you want," Daniel called from where he stood. "I wouldn't want you to go off by yourself."

She turned back to him and thought about it. It would just be a walk with him. With Gary it would be something else all together.

"That would be great, Dan. Thanks."

"You're not going with him, are you?" Gary looked a bit upset, but he wasn't worried enough to make things go wrong.

"Well, he's not yelling, and you are. I think I'd feel better going with him."

"Joanne," Daniel said in that strange way that he had, "let's get you home."

She took his arm as she would if he were walking her to her car and walked down the block. She could feel Gary's eyes on her back. When they turned the corner, she let him go. She felt pain in her back between her shoulder blades. Without thinking about it, she'd been pulling her shoulders back.

"So, where should I take you, angel?" He put emphasis on that last word to let her know that he heard it come out of Gary's lips. "You alright?"

"Fine." She gave her shoulders a shake and straightened up again. "Take me home, like you said. I live a few blocks over. It's pretty far, but I wouldn't walk it alone." Jo's voice felt very commanding.

"Sounds good to me," he smirked down at her.

Jo enjoyed the walk. He hadn't spoken except to comment on the new leaves on the trees. His hair fluttered slightly in the breeze when he pointed up. For a brief moment, she wondered what his hair felt like. She hadn't noticed his hand on her back until he gave her a little stroke across her shoulders which rang every warning bell she had. This time the spark rose up her spine and fluttered around her brain for a bit. She pulled away, to his obvious disappointment. When they got there, he stopped at the entrance to the apartment complex. She wasn't sure if she should invite him in or not. The trip that would have taken her forever by herself had seemed so short.

He said, "Which one is yours?"

"I'm on the third floor on the right."

"Good, I'll know where to point the mariachi," he caressed with his voice. He backed away and waved slightly with his left hand. "I'll see you later... angel."

She found herself waving back. "Yeah, bye." 



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 04



"I'll see you later... angel." 

She found herself waving back. "Yeah, bye."

When she got into the apartment, she walked straight for her room. She sighed in relief that she hadn't giggled stupidly at his tone of voice.

"Well, you didn't invite him up. That's good," Jesse's voice came from the darkness of the couch. "Where were you?"

"He walked me home."

"Hmm. So, you're together now, right?"

Jo turned on the light to her room and took off her shirt. "I don't know." She pulled her nightgown over her head and pulled down her skirt.

"You better figure it out," Jesse grumbled. "Gary took what you did as a challenge. He was all ready to kick your boy's ass. I had to calm him down."

"You didn't have to do that. Uh, and he's not my boy."

"You've only known this guy for a few days. You know that Gary is what he says he is. Hot Chocolate is nothing but lies."

"He hasn't lied to me," Jo muttered as she slid into bed. "If anything, he's told me too much of what he wants to be true."

"But, he's a white guy. You have to think that there's an ulterior motive for his interest in you. Are you a white guy magnet? I think not. I'm the one that has to shut these boys down all of the time. Hell, I know it's fun to get that attention, but..." Jesse shook her head as she turned to go. "Give me a break, Jo."

She knew that Jesse was right. This was the most attention she'd ever gotten from a man, white or black. They were both so intent on her. It was scary. She sat up in bed and looked at herself in the mirror. She had a thin oval shaped face with high cheekbones. Well, maybe she wasn't ugly. Maybe, she was just pretty enough to be worth a little attention. 'Or...Maybe, I'm just ugly enough to go to two hag balls. Hell, my skin is the same color as my eyes. My hair's just as ratty as ever. I don't have anything to make me special. Why are they acting nuts?'

*

That Monday, Daniel invited her to lunch. She walked into the room and immediately felt that odd feeling that she got when hers was the only black face in the crowd. She'd thought she'd gotten over that, but apparently it was resurfacing. 'Why did he have to choose this place?' Joanne was about to turn around and leave when she saw Daniel waving at her from a table in the back. She met him at his table after exchanging nods with several people she didn't know.

"Cookies," he offered when she finally sat down.

"No, thank you."

"Here, have my plate..."

"I'm not hungry. Thank you for offering..."

"Here, you look cold," he got up and pulled at his coat. With this movement, a table of girls her age looked up at him and then appraisingly down at her.

"What are you doing?"

"What?" He paused in mid supplication and bent down to take her hand.

"Stop it," she pulled out of his grasp.

"Stop what?"

"I'm going..." He stood up with her as she looked around. 'Look at all of them staring. Girl, you better hit the road before that blonde over there comes at you with that butter knife.'

"Joanne, stay. I don't know what I should say..."

"You don't need to do anything. Just stop treating me like I'll break."

He showed her genuine surprise and soothed, "I wasn't doing that. I was just..."

"Hey, it's okay. I've seen it before. This was a stupid idea..."

"I think this is a misunderstanding."

"Yes, it is." She slowly drifted back down to a sitting position and interlaced her fingers.

"That is why I asked you to lunch. You... You're treating me like I'm hurting you when I'm being polite. I can't turn off polite, okay? That's just the way that I am. I open a door and stand next to it for a bit. If you happen to walk through that door, it's gravy. Some jerk makes you feel bad, I stand up for you. Get it?"

She frowned up at him. He was smiling but there was a tenseness in his eyes. She looked back down at her hands.

"I'm not your girlfriend," she muttered.

"I know that."

"We're not together."

"That's true too," he smiled as he regained his seat.

"Stop treating me like that. I don't deserve it."

"Never. You deserve even more."

"No, I don't. Your girlfriend does."

"You keep saying that word, but it doesn't mean anything to me, because I don't want to be your boyfriend."

"Then what do you want to be?"

"I want to be yours, Jo."

The way that he'd said it made a shiver go up her spine. To top it off, she heard a series of gasps and whispers from around her.

She got out of the seat again and gathered her bag. "You are definitely twisted," she frowned at him as she backed away.

"Do I say that to anyone else?"

"I don't know," she tried to be harsh as she kept moving toward the entrance.

"The answer should have been no. Have a little faith."

She stopped short and he stopped with her. "Faith? Danny, I don't know you that well. You don't have to do all of this. I'm right here in front of you."

He nodded at her declarative.

"Straighten up. I thought we were gonna go over those numbers. I didn't think you'd keep up with this other stuff. I could really use the real Daniel, right now. Whoever that may be, he's better than some love sick puppy." She watched him process her words for a second then headed for the nearest elevator.

He called after her, "I am not a love sick puppy. I don't follow you around, howling for your attention..."

"You do," she waved back at him with one hand. "What do you think you're doing, right now?"

He looked at the tray of food he had abandoned to follow her to the hallway.

*

He didn't visit her for a few days. She was sure he'd picked another hag. 'And good riddins to you Daniel,' she thought as she finally got some PowerPoint slides done. She was so absorbed in the process that she didn't hear anyone come in.

"There is one n in nucleophilic."

She felt like she jumped two feet off of her chair. He stood there with a soda in his hand and smiled down at her.

"Aren't you going to fix it?"

She blinked at him. 'I guess you couldn't find another hag after all.' "Of course, I'll fix it."

"I've given you some space. You seem to like it, so I'll try to behave." He had this fake sad look on his face. At least, she thought it was fake. He turned to leave then abruptly changed direction.

"Need help with your speech?"

"No, I'm sure I'll do fine. It's not like it's a big presentation in front of a bunch of people. I'm just showing Professor Samuels about some of the new stuff I can do."

"He should probably go to the faculty info sessions."

"It's fine. I don't mind."

He set the drink down and leaned over her. "Here," he said as he retyped the word. "How about a switching this for that?" The arm of his oversized shirt brushed across her face startling her.

"That's how I had it in the first place." She moved aside and looked up at him.

"Well," he nudged her with his arm next. "Great minds think alike. It's better that way."

She cautiously said, "If you want to do this..."

"Nope," he smiled. "This is your baby. Just don't forget about the study session tomorrow. I hear the next exam is gonna fry some brain cells."

With that, he slid his hands from the desk and walked out. She blinked after him. It had actually been a normal interaction. There'd been no strange looks or long sighs from him at all. She smiled to herself. It would all be okay. She could work with him.

*

'Fry some brain cells? How much of an idiot can you sound like?' Daniel cringed as he shut the door behind him. He strolled down the hall contemplating his strategy. "Okay, you didn't jump on her. It's a start. Take it easy. She needs to know you're not wanting that kind of a relationship. Telling her won't work. Why does she look so hot when she frowns?'

Dr S met him at the corner. "Mr. Langier. Who is the target?"

"Target?"

"I can see you're working out a plan. Is it Candace again?" "Oh, no. I'm not planning anything."

"Nonsense. I still don't see why you didn't just tell her the truth from the start."

"Truth, sir?"

"You don't care one bit about Candace. Tell her so. It's rude to string a girl along like that."

"I've told her multiple times. She does not listen."

"Then show her. Why don't you find some nice young girl and go places with her. Public places, so I don't have to witness any oddness in the building."

"Technically, this is a public place," Daniel smiled.

Dr. Samuels laughed and walked off, "Don't let me catch you compromised. That's all I ask."

*

She waited a few weeks for herself to rationalize before she decided to go out with Gary. She figured she owed him another time away from campus just to see if she actually felt anything for him. She figured that Jesse would get off of her back after this time. She felt the need to tell Daniel. She had wanted to get a rise out of him. It would be better than the fake casual that was the norm, now.

When he was leaning over to check something on her screen with his notebook, she said, "I've got a date."

He didn't even blink. "A date? Sounds nice. That Gary guy, I assume."

"Well, yes. I figured, I owe him another shot since..."

He looked sideways at her with those eyes. "Since, you were a bit nervous the last time. Good idea. Are you sure you're not still nervous?"

"Yes. I'm as calm as a cucumber. The few times Jesse brought him over, he's been okay."

"Okay? Not wonderful?"

"Wonderful? I'm not deluding myself into thinking anyone can be wonderful. That's just being pathetic."

"Pathetic? I think people in a relationship should think the other person is wonderful. Not just okay."

"Well, I don't."

"You should."

"Hmmm," she mumbled.

"What?" He was still just as close as he had been when he came over.

"You're so calm. I thought you'd talk about Gary or something."

"Why? We're not together," he reminded her as he straightened up and took his notebook over to his terminal.

It was true. They had settled on a noncommittal relationship. He'd stopped saying the strange things that he'd said the first two days she knew him, but she felt this tension every time she looked at him. Jo wanted that strange twisting in her gut to disappear. He still walked her to her car every night. It was a comfort, since it was getting pretty cold on some nights.

Daniel felt heat rise to his cheeks as he sat back down behind his monitor. He set down his notebook and took a few slow breathes.

"So, where are you two headed on this date?" He was surprised at the tone of his voice and silently scolded himself.

"I'm going to ask him to the fall festival."

"Can he dance?"

"I think so. He did okay at the club when I saw him."

He gave his head a scratch and tried to sound normal, "I hope you have a good time. I hear it's going to be a little warmer that night."

*

Joanne barely got the words of invitation out before Gary agreed. He insisted on picking her up and taking them for dinner and a stroll. He made a point of holding her hand and putting his arm around her as they walked through the park.

"Did I mention how nice you look tonight? That dress is wonderful." His compliment made her shiver. The Indian summer night made things feel more like spring. Jesse had made her wear the clinging small thing. She'd pulled out her old trusted denim jacket and pulled it on, at the last minute, but it had afforded her a little more warmth. The dress had been a series of blocks that wrapped around her chest and went down her sides to connect with the skirt. He'd spent most of the night looking at her chest. She was sure he'd noticed that it wasn't as great as Jesse's but was being polite. She made sure that her hair was straightened to rest at her shoulders. It tickled the back of her neck when she ducked her chin to her neck.

She self-consciously put a hand over her bare abdomen. "Thank you, Gary. I like lavender. I just wish there was more to the thing."

"Oh, no. You're perfect. Why not show it off a little? We could stop off somewhere and dance. That band over there seems good."

"Okay," she smiled at him. She knew she'd have to keep an eye on his hands, but she would enjoy moving to the music.

His hands were warm on the exposed skin of her back. He smelled very good as he moved her in closer. He spoke quietly into her ear, "You want to stop off at my place, tonight?"

She pulled back, but he had her fully encircled in his arms. "Don't worry. I know how to treat a girl."

"Look, I'm not ready to. Can't we just have fun here?"

"Jesse told me that you've been a bit worried, so I thought I'd help you relax. There'd be no commitment. I'll do whatever you want me to," he smiled seductively at her. 'What is Jesse, a pimp?'

"I," she worked to get out of this situation. He was fine, smart, nice, and scary. "I..." The song ended and her date continued his embrace. 

"May I cut in?" She looked up at Daniel. He'd shaved and his shirt was pressed. She'd never seen him without at least a layer of stubble on his chin. 'Oh, and you smell good, too!'

"No, you may not," Gary grumbled. "She's with me tonight."

"It's just a dance. You can have her back," he amiably smiled as he put a hand on her arm. She hadn't flinched at the contact. She'd been frazzled at first when he would purposefully move his arm against hers, or back into her. It had been every excuse to give her just a nudge every time he saw her. This was the first time she hadn't started. She looked up at him and she could tell that he'd noticed too and was full of curiosity.

"It's okay, Gary. I'll meet you over there," she directed him.

He let go and frowned, "Why is he always around?"

"I used to live around here. I come to this festival every year. I can't pretend I don't know her, because you're on a date. The sooner you let us dance, the sooner I'll be gone."

Gary walked to a bench and sat down. Daniel squeezed her shoulder and said, "Did he see it?"

"That's why you were doing that. To get me used to you touching me? He knows that you have a thing for me," she smiled cautiously as the next song started. "He knew before..."

He gripped her hand and slid his other hand to her waist. "I have more than a thing for you, Jo Croix. You know that." He turned her swiftly and she let out a shriek of surprise. He smiled as she laughed nervously. She watched his legs pass too close to hers. She stepped on his toe and he made a funny face. "It's okay," he soothed as he pulled her in closer. "Just move with me, and don't watch where I go anymore." They soon developed a rhythm together, and she was ready when he spun her the next time. He'd hidden his poise very well. She wouldn't have thought he was a dancer to watch him walk. As they continued to move across the floor she queried, "Why are you really here?" He smiled conspiratorially, "I can't help it. You're like a magnet for me. I guess, I'm a wee bit protective. Blame me? Besides, would I pass up the opportunity to dance with you?"

"I guess not."

"You're okay with this? I can hold you out if you want. Honestly, the amount of skin I'm touching is making me a bit ...nervous." He spread his fingers across her exposed back. He thought for sure that the touch of her wouldn't make his fingers feel so tingly.

She shivered slightly as the cool evening breeze was allowed access to her lower back through his fingers. "You nervous? I would never guess. You don't look it."

A warmness rushed across his face and he said, "I have always been the shy, nervous sort. Didn't you figure it out from the hot chocolates?"

She laughed and the flash of teeth sent a shock through him. He wanted to taste her full crimson lips. As they made another turn, she moved her arm up slightly to allow him to feel her jacket brush across his body. He worked to keep her at the distance she had decided on. 'So close. Don't blow it, man,' He chastised himself so that he didn't close the gap between them. She felt his arm tense. The music was ending. She dropped her hands from his arms and turned to go back to Gary. "It was a nice dance."

"Joanne," she heard him moan as he pulled her back a step. "You are so beautiful.... but tonight's his." His words had come through her hair.

He let her go. She turned around, but he wasn't there.

"Good, I didn't have to chase him off. You ready to go?"

"Yes," she responded without thinking.

"Good." He grabbed her hand and guided her toward his car. On the way over she'd decided to use Gary. If she could have sex with him, it wouldn't be so bad. The instant the door to her apartment was opened, he put his hand into the waist of her dress. 

"Gary. Not so fast." She knew she had to get the experience over with. She wanted to like the way that a man touched her. For the past few days, she'd been going over it in her head. She was going to get over her awkwardness if it took sleeping with Gary. He was willing, so he didn't notice much other than what he wanted to see.

"It's okay. Jesse said she was spending the weekend at Terry's place."

He kissed her on the lips roughly as he pulled at the bodice of the dress. "How the hell do I get you out of this thing?"

She undid the snaps at her neck and unzipped the seam at her waist. The dress peeled away as she shook her hips. His eyes were warm on her body. She wanted to enjoy his gaze, but her arms instinctively went to cover her breasts.

"Lord have mercy," he whistled as he put his fingers to the top of her breast. He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off of his shoulders.

"Wait, do you have protection?"

"I sure do. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."

She wasn't surprised he would carry condoms. He struck her as the man ready for every opportunity, especially on a date. Something bumped across her calves and she fell backward onto the couch. Gary appeared over her and pulled her wrist away from her breast. He pressed his mouth over her nipple and she decided the speaking portion of the evening was over. She stifled a moan as his sucking drew a shock from her womb. She wanted to feel good about it. This was the first time she'd wanted to be with a man. His teeth were sharp against her skin as he nibbled and sucked. He was just so rough. When she moved to dislodge him, he caught her other arm and moved his body to keep her down.

*** 

When Dan left the festival, he saw the look on Gary's face, and he knew it wouldn't be good. The man thought that this was a competition. He knew it had been a mistake to track her down, but he had to see what was happening between them. He needed to know that she was safe. He couldn't stand the thought that she would be with another man. The next night, she didn't respond well to his gentle prodding about the date. She hadn't looked up when he came into the office. He just started talking from the anonymity of his cubicle.

"So, how was the rest of the night?"

"Fine," she flatly said.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," she lied. "I slept like a baby."

"That's funny, I couldn't sleep a wink. I kept seeing you in that dress. You made me toss and turn. I wanted to go over to your house, but I figured Jesse would try to kill me. I had this feeling like I needed to see you. Especially to see what happened when you got to those steps."

She didn't respond to the obvious attempt to bait her.

"So, did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Did you invite him up to your apartment?"

"You and I are not together."

"No, we're not. Did you ...." She could hear his breathing become stressed. "Should I be worried about you?"

"I don't think you should be worried about me. From now on, I'll be just fine."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I won't be seeing him again. Don't worry about it," she snapped as she ran her fingers through the papers on her desk.

"Won't be seeing him..." She felt him stare at her from above. "What did he do? Did he..."

"Nothing. Everything's fine, Dan. I'm fine. Nobody's gonna get hurt this way. There's no need to get angry."




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 04



"Angry?" He practically seethed, "You don't get it, Jo. I don't care if you slept with him. How many pieces will I have to clean up, here?" 'She can tell, you're lying.'

"I'm not gonna fall apart. I won't talk to you about my sex life. That's out of bounds for you."

"So, you did sleep with him," he sighed heavily. She heard his chair creak as he sat back down. 'How could she? She's not a slut like Candy...She's not. Or, is she?'

She got up and didn't look at him as she went out of the room. She heard him turn his chair. She didn't slow her progress down to the terminals. He would have continued to ask questions if she had stayed. Jo wanted him to think it. She wanted him to think she would sleep with Gary just because he wasn't Daniel. She wanted an excuse for him to stay away from her. His attention had never felt right. Even the pretend friendship had to end. She had to be firm with him the next time he asked her to walk out to her car. She opened the door and sat down in the back corner of the quietly humming room. She'd forgotten her notebook. She couldn't go back to get it. He would be there waiting. To her growing mortification, he opened the door and positioned himself across from her. She made sure that he was within her peripheral vision but didn't look directly at him. He chewed on his lip for a moment as he stared down at her. 

"Did you get what you needed out of it?"

His face was so calm. There was just the hint of curiosity in his lips and eyes to tell her that he needed an answer. At that moment, she saw something different in the set of his jaw. It had become a hard thing set on grinding his teeth together, instead of the softer amused smiling set. It wasn't curiosity, really. It was something else. Disappointment. Jo didn't want to care what he thought. They weren't together. He had no right to be upset if she slept with someone. It was none of his damn business. The disappointment changed to a frown as she tried to keep a hold of her emotions. The two squirmed in the silence. She was shocked by something wet on her cheek that streamed down to her chin. 'Why do I care what you think?'

He frowned deeper at her. He wasn't sure of why she was crying. Candace used to do this kind of thing to deflect him from her crime. 'She's guilty? She really did it.' "You did do it, didn't you?" His voice had been as cold as he could make it.

"No. I couldn't. I thought I could, but... Happy, now?" Gary had been so forceful when he spread her legs. She'd been so scared, she had forced him out without his shirt. She turned herself away toward the corner, so that Daniel wouldn't be able to see her face. She struggled to stop the warm flow, but the effort just made her breathing ragged. She knew he'd be able to hear the rattling sobs that would soon come, but she held them in anyway.

For an instant, the relief made him want to laugh out loud. He tested to see if it would be okay to comfort her. He would have to stop comparing her to Candy. She needed him to be better. He tested to see if she would allow him to give her what she needed right then.

She felt a pair of hands go around her waist and a warmth next to her ear. She felt his breath on her neck as he held her from behind. She shook in his grasp as he pulled her up to stand. It felt so good. She felt so confused. She'd spent a lot of time stopping people from touching her, but when Dan did it, she needed more.

"It's gonna be okay. I promise," he whispered as he turned her to face him. For the first time in years, she let someone hold her close. 

"Look, it's okay. You should have said something. I wouldn't have pressed it if you had told me not to. How could I have thought that of you?"

He lowered his chin to the top of her head and crooned softly until her sobs melted to a more manageable series of heavy gasps. Dan held her until he was sure she'd stopped moistening his shirt. It had felt so good, she'd wrapped her arms around his back and pressed her face into his chest. His heartbeat had been more comforting than the muffled soothing that he showered her with. It seemed to beat irregularly when she snuggled in closer. He knew it was definitely the wrong time, but he was responding to her. He tried to keep his hips from contacting her warm body too often, but that wasn't helping. Every sigh that left her lips, every movement of her fingers across the fabric on his back, was torture. When she was ready, he drove her home. The brisk walk did him a world of good.

After she got to her room, she felt a bit awkward. He'd let her listen to his heartbeat and breathing for such a long time. He'd just stood there with her attached to him like a leech. She'd buried herself in his smell and the warmth of his body. Before sliding into her bed, she took a look at herself. 'Man, oh man, was that an ugly cry. He's probably planning what to do with his prize, right now.'

The next night, Daniel came in as if nothing happened. He dropped his bag and sat on the edge of her desk.

"So, how was your day? Mine was a bit busy. Pop gave me grief about the biscotti. I guess, I was a bit distracted. It was too sweet to go with coffee."

She didn't respond to his light conversation. She wasn't quite sure what to say to him.

"You're sorry you cried in front of me. I understand. It felt good to hold you. Oh, so good," he mused. "You can't convince me to be guilty about it."

"I'm the guilty one. I used you." 

He focused seriously on her then laughed, "Used me? Feel free to use me anytime, if that's what you think it means. I can only hope you'll do it again." 

He offered his hand and she took it. He ran his fingers over her wrist. His voice had that caressing quality that made her want to cry. "I give you permission to touch me anywhere you'd like. This doesn't mean I get the same privilege. You choose when that happens. Understood?"

She nodded and put her hand over his fingers. "Understood."

"Now that that's settled, did I tell you that you smelled really good? What was that, jasmine?"



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 05



One morning, Joanne tiredly got ready for class. The night had been filled with horrible, old memories and strange new feelings. She hoped she wouldn't get any more nightmares. They had to run out some time. It had been a solid month. The nightmares weren't exactly the most disturbing dreams. She'd been dreaming of Daniel. Sometimes, it was just them talking in the office. Other times, they'd be walking down the street. Other times, she pushed him against the wall and ran her body all over his. He would moan deliciously in her ear as she tasted his neck. She had even started to think of what his body felt like under her hands. Then, she would wake up in a sweat. She'd been so excited one time, she'd had to change her underwear in the middle of the night. Daniel had never done anything forward. He had held her hand a few times, with her permission. But he never pressed the issue. He'd just let her talk to him into the early morning hours. He still walked her to her car with the same words coming out of his mouth as he closed the door.

"I'll be here every night."

She got to her office to find it spotless for a change. It was the end of the term, so there were no more observations needed for the semester. She wasn't quite sure why she was in the office, but it had become a habit. There was a note on her part of the desk. She recognized Daniel's handwriting immediately. She was beginning to think that he didn't remember that exams were coming. He said something about inviting her over to unwind the week before.

"Meet me at the shop, right now. Hurry up already! D"

She rushed down the street and across the field that was behind the coffee shop. She walked around the side of the building and tapped lightly on the glass door. A tall man in his early fifties opened the door and inquired, "May I help you?"

She hesitated for a moment and then said, "I got a message to meet Daniel here."

"Oh, you must be Joanne. Come in. Welcome to Langier's. He'll be back down in a minute." The man waved her in and locked the door behind her. She noticed an accent, but it was very subtle. She sat down at the nearest booth and tossed her jacket down next to her. 

The man shook his head and smiled at her. "Oh no, kid. He wants you to sit there."

There was one of the tables draped in a long red tablecloth in the center of the room. There were two plates per setting and a full compliment of cups and silverware. There were even name cards set at the two places that were positioned right next to each other. She sat down in front of her name. A little card sat on top of her napkin. She opened it.

"Curious yet? Maybe, a wee bit nervous? Don't be. I'm just about ready for you."

"You're the reason, Danny's been cutting out about two, right?" The man smiled down at her. "I figured there was a good reason that he'd been putting a dent in the chocolate. I'm Daniel's pop, David Langier."

She shook the offered hand and smiled back, "Joanne Croix."

"A pleasure to finally meet you," he said with a wink and headed to the back room. She heard a muffled conversation and then the door opened again. Daniel strolled in with a little tray. He'd shaved again, and his hair had been slicked back as though he'd just stepped out of the shower. He wore a sharply pressed white shirt and a brown pair of pants. She tugged at her tattered jeans self-consciously. He dropped down to one knee so that she would be eye level with him as he set the tray on top of the other plates. There were two little cups with a green ball in each.

"I figured, we could try some desserts, tonight. I hope you're not allergic to anything," he purred in that odd way that he had.

"No, I'm not allergic to anything." She tugged at the end of her ponytail.

"I didn't think you would be. We start off with a pistachio ice cream."

Jo picked up her spoon and Daniel pulled it out of her hand. He shook his head and put it back in place. He picked up the spoon from his setting and quickly offered a small bit of the smooth cold treat. She found her eyes closing as the liquid slid down her throat. Some how any food associated with him was erotic.

He whispered, "Wow!" She opened her eyes and offered him some ice cream from her cup. He slowing accepted it. She hadn't noticed how full his lips were until he engulfed the spoon. His breath on her fingers made her grasp a little unsteady. She'd never been so interested in how his lips would taste until then. She tried not to lick her lips. She knew he was watching every change of expression she made. He was ready with more of the rich, sweet greenness the moment she set down the spoon. A subtle rise came to the corner of his mouth, as she accepted the next taste.

"Good?"

"Mmhmm," she rolled the last bit of it along the roof of her mouth.

"A little too good, I'm afraid. I think you should handle your own dessert. I'll try not to watch too closely," Daniel smirked as he watched her dip the spoon carefully into the water dish he had placed for just that reason. This girl was definitely schooled. That had been another surprise he'd picked up from her without her knowledge. He'd brought in a late night snack with a full silverware set, and she'd selected the two forks they were to use. It hadn't really been a test. He'd wanted to impress her with the selected cheeses, fruit and salad greens. It turned out that a simple meal was more her style.

'It was getting to him, too,' she thought as she crossed her legs under the table. Her thighs had started this strange tingling. She finished what was left in her cup off quickly. A reddish orange sherbet came next. Daniel had called it blood orange sorbet. It was extremely delicious, though Daniel didn't eat much. He didn't speak, either. He was busy trying to hide his erection. He'd always had a thing for a girl's lips. Joanne's were the perfect balance of fullness and size. Every little movement of them sent a quiver through his thighs. He was just about to see about a kiss when David came out with the cheesecake. His father gave a frown and paused before setting down the plates.

"Boy? You doing okay?"

"Sure, sure. I'm great."

"Then, you won't mind if I talk to the young lady for a minute." His father's voice was pleasant though there was an obvious uneasiness in the way that he looked at Jo.

"Father," Daniel let out a small protest as David reached to take Jo's hand. She stood up without touching him. Daniel sat back as she followed his father into the kitchen. She hadn't noticed that he was sitting on the edge of the chair until she was a few paces away.

As soon as the swinging door shut behind them, David's face changed. "You seem like a good girl. You're a very pretty girl. You're more grounded than his last girl friend."

"Uh, thank you. I think."

"My boy has a tender heart. I don't want him to be hurt," the firm words matched his stern gaze.

"I don't want that, either," she responded to his silent question.

He looked down at her with the same dark blue eyes as his son, but there was none of the familiar warmth to put her at ease. "I can see that. I'm thinking of other people, here. He's a very passive boy. It won't be easy for the two of you."

"There isn't a two of us," she tried to soften his concern with a laugh.

"There is for him, which is a mistake. If he wasn't willing to fight for..."

"Pop," Daniel said from the doorway. "stop harassing Joanne. She knows exactly how I feel about her, and I know how she feels about me. Tonight was for her to come over here and get to know the shop. She's been cooped up in that office for so long that I figured it would be fun. I wanted to actually see her before she goes away for fall break."

His father let out a sigh and said, "Danny, how about you clear this up for me. I saw the way that you looked at her just now."

"What about it?" Daniel seemed slightly irritated.

David put a hand to his son's face and caressed, "I've seen it before. Remember, right before you left town? The girl came in asking for ..."

"Papa," Daniel gave the hand a pat then looked into Joanne's eyes. He tried to casually say, "That was two years ago," but it came out like something else. Joanne didn't let it show, but she was a bit nervous that he hadn't mentioned anything about leaving town. 'Does he like to get a girl interested and then drop her if she doesn't do what he wants? Is that what this is?'

David shook his head at the obvious overemotional lilt in his son's voice. "The boy isn't doing very well. I wanted you to know what you were getting in to. Joanne, I think I should take you home..." He reached out for Jo. 

Before she could respond, Daniel moved between them. "Don't touch her." 

Daniel offered his hand to her. "I think we could both use some air. Ciao, Pop."

Jo wasn't sure why she took his hand. He got her out into the night before David could say more. He held her elbow with more force than she'd liked. She looked up into his set face and tried to figure out what was wrong. He was walking too fast and her elbow was too high.

"Wait. Just stop!" She pulled her arm out of his hand. "What just happened?"

"My father has no idea what's going on," he blurted as he continued to walk.

"How about letting me in on the secret?" She caught his arm before he got too far away from her with those long strides. 

He turned to face her. "Before you came along, I had some problems. I worked them out. He thinks I haven't," he let out. He looked into her eyes and softened, "You know, before you came tonight, he actually asked if we were sleeping together. I told him it was none of his business. He said, I couldn't think straight when I was inside a woman. He said I needed to learn to just be with a woman. That was not the problem. It ended badly. Pop won't let me forget how bad it was. You don't deserve to be penalized for what happened way before I met you."

"He didn't really act like he wanted me around, Dan. It's more than that. We both know ..."

"He's afraid I've gone off the deep end. That's it," he soothed her as he rubbed his hands over her arms.

"Have you?" She kept herself from putting too much into the question. She'd grown very attached to him. More than she was willing to admit. She'd hoped he would eventually kiss her, so that she could get rid of the imagined ecstasy. Was he really crazy? There wasn't anything strange in his face at the moment. As a matter of fact, his face was generally gentle with an anticipation. Joanne had called it that 'I'm gonna get you eventually' face.

Daniel put a hand to his chest and looked down into her eyes. "I have no plans of going crazy at the moment. I know what this is. I'm the one waiting for you, remember?" He ducked down to be more at her level and tilted her head up with his fingertips. "You can call this off at any time. I won't push. It's great to be able to touch you without you pulling away. I like being able to see you every night." He moved his fingers to gently massage her throat and said, "If we keep this casual thing up, I might get a little carried away. Maybe, I'll even..."

His face was so close to hers. She instinctively averted her eyes from his. Jo braced herself in anticipation. Someone pushed between them and shoved Jo to the side as they rushed past her. To stop her momentum toward a brick wall, she raised her arms. She slid against it until her knee hit the sidewalk. 

"Hey!" 

She looked up toward the voice. Jesse helped her toward Terry's car. "Come on, Girl."

Jo looked back toward Daniel. He was facing someone else. The man was talking with his hand waving.

"Gary?" Jo went toward the two. 

Jesse held on to her wrist. "They need to sort this out, since you don't want to," she grumbled.

"It doesn't need sorting," she yelled. "I'm not mixed up about anything."

Jesse opened the car door and motioned for her to get in. When Jo hesitated, Jesse shoved her in. She heard Daniel say something as the car rolled away. 

"Gary told me what happened the other night," Jesse said as she continued to hold on to Jo's arm. "What is going on with you?"

"Terry, could you pull over, please?"

"No, Terry, take us home. We have a few things we need to clear up."

"You want to clear it up? Fine. I don't want to see Gary ever again. Not because you think we'll be a good couple. Not ever. Not by accident, because you think I need to get laid. I'm tired of you setting me up, when I'm not ready to be with anybody."

"You seemed to be with Hot Chocolate just fine."

"Damn it, Jessica. His name is Daniel!"

"I know exactly what his name is. I know a lot about Daniel that you don't."

"So?"

"He's been lying to you. If he was honest, you wouldn't waste another second on him. Gary's been nothing but honest."

"Let me out of this car before I break a window."

Terry pulled over and the locks opened. Jo opened the door and pulled her way out of the car. She ran toward the shop as fast as her sneakers could carry her. Her chest hurt. She wasn't sure why she'd been holding her breath. When she got back to the corner, there was no one there. She went back to the shop and found the door wide open. Some of the chairs were askew. She picked a few up and straightened out some of the tables. She'd caused this. Jo refused to let things get out of hand again. It seemed that every good time she had with a man ended in something wrong. No more. 'Once I make sure he's alright, I make a break of this non-relationship.' She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and she flinched around. Daniel backed off.

"Shit, Joanne," he murmured. "I was so worried about you. You're cleaning up like nothing just happened?" His bottom lip was starting to swell from the scuffle that he'd just had. His dark hair was slightly over one eye.

"What happened to you?"

"Oh, Gary and I had a little run in. He told me not to see you anymore. I told him no way. The sad thing is, I was watching the car leave with you in it when he got me with a cheap shot."

She looked into his eyes, "I'm so sorry, Dan. This is all my fault. I should never have gone out with him. I should have been more clear with both of you."

Dan shrugged, "No, I blame Jesse for setting you up with him in the first place. She must really hate me. Am I that bad?"

She looked into his soulful eyes and admitted, "Yes. I'm sorry, you are."

At first he thought she was joking. Though she smiled as though she were, he could see it in her eyes. 

After all of the work he'd put in to get her to trust him, she wouldn't. "You're afraid of me," he sighed.

"I'm sorry," came out of her mouth again.

"You're gonna dump me now, because we're back to being afraid, right?"

"We were never together."

"We keep saying that." He asked, "Then, why does it hurt?"

"It'll stop..." Something caught in her throat as she tried to soothe him. "You have to see that this is wrong. You need a girl who'll be what you want. I can't. You shouldn't be that hurt. We never even kissed. It was great to pretend with you all of those nights, but it's too much for me, now."

He sat down in front of her with his forearms resting on his knees. "You know, I care a lot about you. I think, I've learned a lot from our conversations. I still want to make sure you're safe. Is that okay?"

He picked at a piece of dirt on his pants. She wasn't sure what to do. He didn't seem crushed. He just seemed tired. She rearranged the dishes on their special table so that they could be picked up in one or two passes. Just a matter of minutes before, she'd been swept away by the flow of the evening. Now, she was tearing her own heart out so that she could go back to the normal, easy way that she had before she knew him. She took one last look around the room and picked up her jacket.

"Jo?"

She looked back at him. Dan had squared up his shoulders and put an arm over a chair next to him.

"Why couldn't you touch me? I could see your fingers move toward me, but you stopped. Had you already decided to get rid of me?"

Jo had wanted to touch him. She'd wanted to cup his cheek in her palm and smother his lips with kisses. That was one of her irrational ideas that had decided to surface lately, anytime he was near. She walked over to him. 'He deserves this much, at least. What will it cost me?' She walked back to him and dropped her jacket over the table. He put his hands in his lap. There in the café, he raised up to be close to her face. She raised her hands to either cheek and he closed his eyes. She wasn't sure what to do. She'd never been the one to do anything. She stood there for a moment watching a subtle smile cross his lips.

"Just as sweet as I thought," he whispered. Just those words gave her courage. She ran her fingers over his ears and into his hair. His scalp was warm and the hair soft under her hand. A tingle went through her fingers down her arms and into her chest. He moved closer and opened his eyes. She'd seen that look before, when they were sitting at the table in the middle of the room, and again on the sidewalk. This was the look she'd been avoiding. This would have been the time to turn away. He'd leaned in a little too close when they were alone in the office, and she had moved away. This time he held her in his gaze when his lips pressed against hers slowly. Her heart thumped in her chest. She didn't break away. She closed her eyes and held still as his lips moved slightly to touch her nose and then her chin. Every touch of his lips were like fire. This new sensation swept through her without regard for her thoughts about anything. There was no way she could stop herself from letting go, this time. She needed to feel wanted, even if it was for a few minutes. She felt his hands pull her down to his lap as he parted her lips. He tasted so good.

"Hey!"

They both looked toward the front door. Jesse walked up and pulled Jo away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I...I..." Jo couldn't think. Embarrassment made her face feel warm.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel sounded a bit confused himself.

"Look, Romeo. This is my friend. Leave her alone."

"Jo?" His voice seemed to hold her where she stood.

"Don't make an issue out of this." She heard Terrence.

"God, Jesse, get off of me," Jo cried as she wrenched her arm free. "What is your problem? Why are you ready to hurt him?"

"Him! He's the problem. You've been so... Just stop seeing this freak!"

"He's no freak," she frowned. She looked back at him for confirmation. "I don't think... Are you, Dan?"

"I'm not a freak," he verified. "Unless that's what she wants..." Jesse raised her palm toward his face and he stopped.

"I let it go on for a little bit, but when you started crying in your sleep, I drew the line. I don't want to know what happened. I just want it over and to get you home."

Jo sighed, "Jess, he hasn't touched me. Tonight was our first kiss. I'm sorry if I worried you. I..."

"First kiss? Girl, I hope it's your last. Let's get her out of here, Terrence."

"Baby," Terrence put a hand on her shoulder. Jesse subsided. The big man moved in front of Jo and looked at Daniel for a moment.

"I know you," he finally decided. "You're the piano guy from next door."

"Yeah, I play there sometimes," Daniel slowly said.

"A touch as sweet as a summer breeze and skin like fired clay?"

"Eyes so telling of the fear and a smile from far away," Daniel completed the line.

"A good song. I heard it that night you and Gary got to a few words. I saw how you looked at her. Wasn't quite sure, though," Terrence seemed to smile to himself as he looked at Joanne. "We're gonna go," he nodded as he guided his woman away.

"Jo! Terrence, are you crazy? Don't do this," Jesse pleaded with him as he gently guided her toward the door.

"No crazies here. She won't be home, tonight," Terrence told the air with a hand raised in farewell.




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 05



When the two were safely in their car and driving away, Daniel swiftly locked the outer door and turned back to her. "You've been having nightmares?" He voiced his concern. "We've got to get rid of those."

She smiled, "I wasn't asleep that night. I just didn't want to talk to her about what happened... you know... with Gary."

He gathered her to him and kissed her again. "Don't lie. You have nightmares. I saw it on your face when she said ..."

She looked up at his concern and coyly replied, "And what if I do?"

"Maybe, you need a change of venue."

"You mean, sleep somewhere else?"

He looked down at her and smiled, "She's a smart one. Smart enough to come up with my suggestion?"

"I couldn't. I barely know you. I don't think your dad..." Her protests were weak. He already had her through the swinging doors and into the house before she knew it.

"It's been nearly two months, and I thought I answered every question you could think of. Pop voiced his opinion. His room's right next to mine. I'm just offering a place to sleep. Do you really want to be there when Jesse gets back?"

He showed her up to the room, which seemed more like a hotel room than a bedroom. There was a queen sized bed against one wall opposite a small dresser and a very small chair. The thick curtains went from floor to ceiling and were a bold, burgundy contrast to the white walls.

"There used to be posters, but after I left, Pop decided to redecorate."

"After you left," Jo remembered the tension.

"Yes, I spent a year in France visiting relatives. Honestly, a relationship ended, I was a bit depressed, and Pop didn't want to see me that way," he casually offered as he pulled down the comforter and sheets.

"Over a girl?"

He stood up slightly and glanced at her sideways. "Her name was Candace. She and I weren't meant to be. Apparently, Pop really liked her."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I wouldn't have met you. When you're born a lover..."

"You're born to suffer," she completed the line to the song.

"Depeche Mode. Yet another reason you're standing here in my room. What music don't you listen to?"

She shrugged, "I like a lot of different things." 

He went over to his dresser and pulled out a shirt. "This should work for you tonight. Give me your keys."

She pulled them out of her back pocket and tossed the bundle to him.

He hefted them a few times and said, "You don't use half of these do you?"

"It's for protection."

He nodded in recognition of their first night. "Which one is for your apartment?"

"Why?"

"You want to wear the same clothes to school you had on yesterday?"

She nodded. "Nobody notices what I wear anyway."

He set them noisily on the dresser and put his finger to his lips. 

"You can borrow one of my shirts," he said loudly.

A door opened and a pair of feet walked down the hall.

"He knows you're still here. He won't come in. I'll go downstairs while you get settled into bed."

When he got to the door he jiggled the knob and said, "I'll knock just in case." Jo pulled her clothes off and quickly put on his shirt. It was a lot bigger than her usual size, so it would work well enough for a night gown. She folded her things and set them down on the little chair. She slid under the covers and waited. She wasn't sure she should even still be in the room, but she knew down deep that he was different. He had to be. When he came back in with some blankets and pillows, she realized that he had been planning to sleep on the floor. He arranged the bedroll on the other side of the bed, pulled off his pants and sat down on the floor. She was surprised to catch a glimpse of a solid pair of legs. He snapped out his pants and gently folded them across his lap. He ran his fingers over the crease and flipped them in half again. He leaned over and set them on top of her clothes. He put his hands on the edge of the bed and quipped, "You know, I wanted you in my bed, but I never thought it would be so soon."

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"Would you rather I slept on the floor at your house?"

"No, I'd probably put you on the couch."

"You know I wouldn't stay there. This way, we can talk. Later, I'll watch you sleep for a bit, then go set up the donuts," he said as he stretched out on top of the blankets.

"I didn't know you guys made donuts." 

"Yeah, and monster cinnamon rolls with extra frosting," he sang to her.

"How did you know I liked those?"

"I didn't. Their my favorite." He looked at her and smiled. "The more I learn about you, the more I like. Wait just a second," he laughed to himself as he got up and went into the closet. He pulled out a speaker attachment for an mp3 player and plugged it into the wall. He shuffled through a coat in the closet and pulled his mp3 player out of a deep pocket. He plugged it into the stand and hit the play button.

"So, you never answered my question about the music. A lot of different things? Like this?"

She lay back with her hands under the back of her head. She listened thoughtfully for a moment, then recognized the song. "When I was in high school, I used to listen to XTC a lot."

"Not now?"

"An old boyfriend thought they were sad, so when we broke up, I played them all the time. It turns out, really depressing stuff makes me feel good. Not that XTC is depressing. Their stuff is fun. I started to be my own person then, I guess. Anything from England in the early eighties was the best. Then, I moved on to metal for a little bit. Right now, I'm back to old and moldy, or R&B. I'm redoing my collection one cd at a time."

He plopped back down to the ground. "When I went to Europe, I ended up with a lot of different things. XTC was one of my first discoveries. Music turned into something that would get me into places. I learned that some things aren't what they appear to be. Like you. I knew from the instant I saw you, there was something special about you."

"There's nothing special about me. Not a thing. There's only the potential for bad."

"I don't see bad in you. Something I want to find out about, possibly. I'd never say bad." His voice had dropped in volume. She'd thought he was drifting to sleep, yet he seemed to be wide awake in his words.

"You seem to make me do things I've never done before."

"Like what?" She felt a weight on the bed as he leaned in with his head on his hands. "Other than sleeping in my bed."

She turned and looked down at him. "Like that dessert thing downstairs. I'm not very observant of other people. You made me look at you."

"You look at me all of the time. You watch my hands more than anything," he raised a bit and wiggled his fingers.

"No, I mean, I knew what you looked like, but I didn't pay attention, I guess."

"I think I get it," he frowned slightly.

"What do you get? I sure don't get it myself."

"I know that you try to stop yourself from smiling a lot. Something I'd like to understand. You have very nice teeth, by the way. You spend a lot of time pretending not to watch people out of the corner of your eye. I think you assess all people as threats until they prove you wrong. And, you have this way of looking at me that makes my chest tight and fluttery at the same time."

She chewed on her bottom lip as he spoke again. "You know I'm all in. I just need you to be all in, too. You're not ready yet. I know." He reached a hand toward her and she leaned toward him. His fingertips brushed her cheek. "When you are, you'll tell me."

The song changed to an electronic chiming and then...

His eyes lit up with recognition. He sprang up with a mischievous smile. He reached down for her.

"Dance?"

She self-consciously pulled his shirt down over her knees as she slid out of the bed. She knew the song. It was slow and intoxicating. His hands touched hers briefly before he pulled her waist into contact with his body. She put her hands on his upper arms and allowed him to move her around the floor slowly.

His hands roamed across her back as they swayed with the music. 

"I'm trying really hard to be a good boy, here," he purred as he raised a hand to caress her neck just below her hairline.

She closed her eyes and frowned, "You aren't a boy."

"No? I feel like one whenever I'm with you."

"What?" She'd been feeling the same way. She had reverted to that insecure teenage girl the moment he introduced himself. Every time he was near, she felt like a bumbling moron. It drove her insane.

"Okay, I admit it. You make me all squishy," he murmured.

She blushed.

"I'm sure it's a good squishy," he continued.

"Are you sure?" She looked away from him.

He put his mouth to her ear and took in a deep breath. "I've never felt like this, Jo, but the only thing I am is sure," his low quiet sensual words made her chest tight. "I'm sure you smell good. I'm sure you taste good. You feel just right against me. What else is there?"

The room went suddenly silent as the next song took a long time to start. She shivered in his arms as he bore into her with those solid slate eyes. He struggled to control himself. He felt this urge to keep her in his arms, but he knew this was too much to ask. If he did keep her, he'd want to kiss her again and leave marks all over her...

"Danny," she breathed. "We shouldn't."

"I know," he purred and let her go with a slow sad shake of his head. "I remember what I said. Nothing's happening. Not tonight, anyway."

He moved back to his bedroll and got under his blanket. He acknowledged the slivers of daylight that crept around the curtain by saying, "Good morning, Jo."

"Good morning, Dan," she tried not to sound too relieved as she settled back into bed.



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 06



It had been the most beautiful dream. It started with waking up in what appeared to be an afternoon. The sun was low, but it was on the other side of the earth. She didn't recognize the house, but it was definitely quiet and safe. She walked through the house and opened every window to the salty air. She couldn't hear an ocean, but she knew it was there. Somehow, she knew that there were no obligations to meet except for her immediate ones. There were no papers due. Jesse wouldn't jump out and pretend to be her conscience in this dream. It was a peaceful vacation. Vacation. She wasn't alone. She walked toward the front door. Though she'd passed by it recently, it suddenly seemed a lot bigger. She turned the enormous knob and rushed out to an expansive deck. The sky was blue by now, but she could still make out people walking up toward the house. She didn't want to see them. She wanted to stay alone in her house by the sea. She turned around to run back in and slam the door on the intruders, but Daniel blocked the way. He took her hand and moved her inside...

*****

Joanne turned over to snuggle deeper under the covers. She smiled at the darkness, because that meant that it was still early in the morning. Early in the morning meant that she could sleep a lot longer. She breathed into her pillow and pulled it farther over her head. 'What's that smell? Somebody other than me has been in my bed.' She sat up in bed. 'Shit!' She let out a high pitched shriek.

Joanne looked around Dan's room for a moment before she realized where she was. There was no one else to see what she'd done, but she pulled the blanket up to her chin anyway. She looked over to the small clock on his bureau. '12:30pm!'

She jumped up and rushed for her clothes. A note slipped to the floor. She snatched it up because she saw her name on it.

Joanne, I know you'll be mad, but I couldn't bring myself to wake you. Don't worry. I have your classes covered until 2pm. I'll meet you at your place with the notes. Don't worry about Pop. He's harmless. I told him to treat you nice, or else. You can go out through the door in the kitchen, if you don't feel like dealing with the crowd in the front. Daniel

She dressed and slowly explored her way back to the stairway that led to the downstairs kitchen. The house was brighter than she would have thought. The furniture was light in color and there were paintings and photographs everywhere. She noticed a second stairway leading up to another story, but she wanted out. When she opened the door at the bottom of the stairs and slipped through to the work kitchen, the people were too busy to notice her. She nodded to herself and spotted the door Daniel had mentioned. She had her hand on the pushbar, when David bellowed, "Young lady!"

She turned around to meet his thorough gaze.

"Here," he looked down at the floor as he offered her a little white bag. "A cinnamon roll. Daniel's favorite. We wouldn't want you to go from a restaurant hungry."

She felt the workers' silence. He'd been just loud enough to let every one know that he disapproved. She blushed as she held up her hand to fend off the offer.

"No, thank you. I'm late as it is," she softly said as she pushed her way out into the bright cold afternoon.

"Suit yourself."

'I know how it looked to those guys. I don't know if I'll be able to go back in there. Maybe, that was the point of that...gesture he just did.'

She rushed into her next class just after the chime sounded. She didn't want to go to the front. Dr. Samuels seemed to be in a particularly testy mood. She slid into a seat all the way in the back of the room in the hopes that she would blend in. She managed to get through half of the lecture. 'Just another 30 minutes or so, and I'll meet Dan.'

"Miss Croix! What are you doing up there? Get down here in your usual seat, where you belong."

'He picked today to remember my name?'

"Yes, I'm talking to you. You'll distract me if you're not where you should be."

She gathered her things and looked back at her classmates as they muttered about her. The rest of the period didn't want to stay in her mind, but it was a review. Between the snickers when the professor glanced over at her and Daniel drifting through her mind, she wasn't making much of an effort to pay attention to the content. She could just review on her own. The chime for the end of the lecture sounded, and Dr. Samuels was bombarded by a group of people with questions. This was her chance to make a break for it.

"Croix," his voiced raised over the questioning students. "Stay put. I'm not done with you."

She sat back down and clutched her backpack to her chest. 'This can't be good.'

"I have a question for you," he said as he gestured for her to follow him out of the room.

She nodded her acknowledgement of his words.

"Why is it that one of my best students came in late to class with the same thing she had on yesterday?" He paused to look into her surprised eyes. "Yes, I notice what you wear. So do other people. One of which came in this morning looking like he'd been hit by a truck."

Joanne looked down at the strap to her backpack and tugged it over her shoulder. "I don't understand, sir."

"Care to explain to me why one of my grad students looks more like a boxer than an academic?"

'Grad students?'

Dr. Samuels nodded his head toward his office and kept walking. "I can only assume that you and Daniel have come to some sort of understanding, finally. He's been quite the distraction. I had an idea that he was taken with you when he volunteered to take part of your shift. I've pulled that trick for years. He's never done that before. Not even when he was in the class himself. You should be flattered to know that. So," he laughed as he opened his door. "Was he defending your honor?"

She frowned, "I wouldn't call it that..."

"Of course, he was. You don't lie very well. Neither does he. When I spoke to him earlier, he nearly admitted that the fight was over a woman. I gave him an out, because I know him so well. I will give you a pass as well, because you're such a quiet person." He raised his hand in signal for silence before she could say anything. "Be on time for my class next time. Nothing is more important than your education. Not even Mr. Langier." 

*

Jo walked so fast toward her apartment. She knew she would trip any second and decided it would be better at home away from public scrutiny.

'A TA?' "Shit!" 'Stop swearing, Joanne. Well at least we didn't do anything. You can drop him before he gets into trouble. Will this affect my grade? Did he slip me hints on the exam? I should have paid better attention during that first few days. What am I gonna do, now? Why didn't he say something? I don't know how he got me into this. HE? I got me into this all by myself. Way to pick 'em, Jo. He doesn't fit our list, right?'

When she turned the final corner, she saw him sitting on the stoop with one foot on the sidewalk and the other on the second step. His back was against the railing, and he was concentrating on a piece of paper he held lightly in his fingers. The wind fluttered through his hair, and he shook a few errant strands from his cheek.

'He's tall. He wouldn't be sitting like that if he wasn't. Damn, he's fine. He doesn't even know how fine he is just doing nothing. That's why you haven't been as rude as you should be. So what! He's good looking. He's smart. He's tall. He tastes good... Stop it, right now, Joanne. Get a grip. He's bad news. Curb him!'

At that moment, he looked up and noticed her. He rolled up to stand and gave her that strange smile he always seemed to give. She lost her train of thought.

"Hi, how was class," he continued to smile around an angry looking bruise that swelled his lower lip.

"I'm not sure. You tell me," she touched his cheek just shy of the bruise.

"It's not as bad as it looks. Just wait a few days, if you can't stand how it looks. Oh, you probably freaked out a bit when you figured out what time it was."

She nodded at him and narrowed her eyes.

"And, I'd do it again. You were so peaceful. Oh," he dug in his bag and handed her a stack of loose leaf pages. "Here are the notes I promised."

She took them from him with a nod and walked up the steps. He followed without hesitation. "I should get you some ice for that," she said over her shoulder.

"I told you, I'm fine. Besides, Dr. S says it makes me look more masculine."

"What else did he say," she tried to be casual when she got her keys out in front of the door.

"He said it suited me. It's not everyday he has a story."

"Like a TA dating a student?"

"Well, yeah, but I doubt if he'd put it that way."

"What way would you put it, Daniel?"

"I'm not sure." He blinked at her in understanding. She wanted an explanation, but was still listening. He rolled his shoulders and lowered his head to her level. "What was I supposed to do? I could have said something like, 'Hey Jo, I'm a TA. Use me for grades,' but you would have immediately stopped the conversation, wouldn't you?"

'He's right.' She moved back so that he could come into the apartment behind her. "Yeah, but you lied..."

"If I hadn't, you wouldn't have given me what small of shot you gave me. I'm not your TA. I don't grade your homework or exams. Even if I did, I'd have asked you out anyway," he purred at her as he moved the door closed and leaned in for a kiss. "I'd have done anything for you."

"Oh, will you shut up!" Jesse stood in their path with her arms crossed over her ample chest. She looked at Daniel and over Joanne's wrinkled clothes.

"Where were you when I got back? I was worried."

Daniel raised up to his full height and frowned, "Oh, so, now you're her mother?"

"I wasn't talking to you. Gary must have knocked what sense you had out of your head."

Dan wanted to say something but just smiled spitefully at the little woman. He had her. There was nothing Jesse could do about it.

"Dan, why don't you go sit done on the couch. I got this," she smiled up at him.

'Anything for you.' He gave Jesse a wide berth and sat down.

Jesse dragged Jo around the half-wall and into the kitchen.

"You know I was at Dan's place. You could have called, if you were worried."

Jesse looked into Joanne's eyes and frowned. "Why would I want to do that? I've gone without my coffee all day. You could have at least left instructions on how to work that thing."

There was an awkward silence as Jo put a few scoops of ground coffee into the machine, filled it with water from the tap, and made a grand gesture of turning the switch to on. "That's all you had to do."

"How was it," she quietly asked.

Jo knew the question would come, but hadn't prepared an answer yet.

"That good, huh? Well, get over it, and curb him. There is no sex worth his aggravation..."

"We didn't have sex," Jo laughed nervously.

"What? Look, stop drawing this out. He's not the kind of guy we discussed. He's not even on the list."

"Maybe, he is..."

"Does he look like a sophisticated, fine brother with his act together?"

"Look, the only thing he doesn't fit was the black part. I'm willing to overlook it..."

"Stop shitting me! You can't be serious. After all of the fine fuckin brothers you've turned down, you want this....this..."

"Jess, your language."

"Fuck that! You don't know shit about this boy. Gary is a good man. You can trust Gary."

"I trust Dan!"

Jo knew it had been the wrong thing to say before she was done. Jesse pulled in a deep breath and twitched.

'Not good!'

She lowered her voice to a growl. "Oh, you trust him, huh?" A grimace crossed her face as she shook her head. "Girl, please!"

She walked casually over to Dan and dropped herself down close to him. He moved over.

"So, Daniel. Did you tell her?"

"Tell her?" Dan looked from Jesse to Jo.

"Your boy here is a player, girl. Aren't you, big man. Mr. Innocent with the freaky flip side."

"I don't know what..."

"Of course, you know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about Candy. Remember her?"

"I haven't been with Candy for over two years. Jo knows about it, if that's the bombshell you want to drop," he grumbled as he folded his arms over his chest and tried to look at the television.

"Oh, you know about Hot Chocolate already. How'd he spin it?"

"Candy, that's his ex-girlfriend. What else is there to know?"

"His ex-girlfriend? Try fiancé! Try knocked up fiancé that he left at the damn alter!"

Joanne looked at the side of Daniel's head, because he didn't turn to look at her.

"Is it true?" 'Please, Danny! Just say no.'

"Shit yeah, it's true. Isn't it, Mr. Hot Chocolate. Tell her a lie. Go ahead. She wasn't pregnant, was she? She sure as hell was. She wasn't your fiancé? I've got an invitation in my dresser that would shoot that one down. What about the strippers? Oh, you didn't tell her about the strippers?"

"Strippers," Jo said to the side of his head.

"Your boy forced her into sex with two other girls. You see, he can't just have one girl. What do you do with three women? You've only got one dick."

"It's not like that," Daniel tried to make himself sound convincing, but it came out wrong. It had been like that, once. It wasn't like that now. He couldn't look in Jo's direction, because he knew the look she would have on her face.

"It's not like that? Then why did I see you all over Candy a few nights ago? You weren't shoving her away. What? It was a club. You thought you' wouldn't get caught?"

Joanne bumped into the counter. She'd been backing away from the situation. She turned and concentrated on the dishes in the sink. 'This can not be happening. He's not like that. All of those things we talked about...'

"Are you happy, now," Dan growled at Jesse.

"I'm ecstatic! See that? You should have taken your chance last night. My Jo's a good girl. She doesn't want anything to do with you. Get your freak ass off of my couch."

"Why did you have to do that?"

"If you'd told the truth in the first place, there'd be nothing to do, and she wouldn't've given you the time of day. Go on back to Candy now."

"I'm not with Candy..."

The little woman scrunched up her face and hissed, "It don't matter! You definitely ain't with Jo! I'm makin sure of that!"

Dan stood up and walked over to Joanne. "Jo," he tried to get through to her, "If I really was like that, why would I be here?"

"She doesn't need to hear your bullshit. You wouldn't be here if she'd gave it up like you'd expected."

"Shut up. This is between Jo and me. She should know," he snapped at Jesse. This was all Jesse's fault. The bitch was working against him from the minute he'd shown an interest. That wasn't true. Jesse had been correct in saying that this wouldn't have happened if he had just told her everything. Hell, they'd had plenty of time during those early morning chats. She'd told him practically everything. Why couldn't he?

"I'm sorry," he breathed. "I should have told you more about Candy..."

"See, Jo! He admitted it." Jesse slid in between them and put her arm around Jo.

"Damn it! Why don't you mind your own business!"

"Boy, I know you're not steppin to me! You gonna hit women, too?"

"I would never do anything like that!"

"How would I know? You're the one that's been shady!"

"Please!" Joanne broke up the argument with the one word. She moved out of the kitchen and looked around for something to do. She would settle for anything not to acknowledge the two people looking at her. She straightened some pillows on the couch and walked deliberately for her bedroom. 'No, I didn't make another bad choice. We're not together. I didn't do anything wrong this time. He'll tell me he didn't do anything wrong whether he did or not,' her mind raced as she flung herself onto her bed.

"Jo," she heard Jesse speaking, "Isn't in the mood for your nonsense. Just take yourself out of the picture."

"This isn't over. I don't see why she puts up with you. If she knew what you were really like, she wouldn't..."

"She knows what I did to you. I told her everything. I didn't tell her how you got all hard in my hands, though. I thought we'd keep that between us. Candy might like to hear about it, though."

"Why do you have to twist things? I'm not with Candy. I don't want anything to do with either of you! You're both a couple of filthy whores any way!"

Jo heard Jesse suck on her teeth. "That's what you think of Jo's best friend, huh? And you wonder why I'm against you."

Dan's voice was far away. "I'm gonna get her by herself, and we'll see what happens."

"Don't count on it," Jesse sounded like she was at the door. "Punk bitch!"

The door slammed with the force reverberating through the thin walls.



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 07



The next morning, Jo got up and out before Jesse could start in again. She didn't get much sleep anyway. Since Dan left, her so called best friend had been talking at her about how good girls shouldn't be so trusting.

"What kind of a fool knocks a girl up and leaves her? I tell you what kind. The kind that would trick a good girl into bed, that's what. You gonna eat that toast? I told you to stay away from that boy the day I figured it out, but no. You had to go and get seduced."

Jo frowned into her cereal, "I was not seduced..."

"That is some bullshit! I was there night before last. I saw you run back to him like he had your quim on speed dial."

"Quim?" Jo rinsed out her half eaten bowl and pulled her backpack over her shoulder.

"See. You don't know shit about anything. It's a word for your kooch. You're coming straight back from class, right? We're supposed to go to the store. I'll make out the list."

"Yeah," Jo grumbled. 'It's not like you cook anything, so why do I have to buy what you want?' Her fight was gone. She wasn't sure why she was so submissive, but today she just wanted out of the house. "I'll be back at about three."

"Remember what I said. He's gonna lie like a dog, so make him work for it."

*

Dan scratched at his stubble as he typed furiously into his laptop. The paper would be garbage, but it would be turned in garbage. His heart was elsewhere. His restive sleep didn't help his brain, either. He'd tried after every class to speak to her, but she just brushed by him as if he didn't exist. The chime sounded. 2:45. He quickly slid his laptop into the back of his case and strode down to her. If he didn't try now, he knew he wouldn't get another chance until after the holiday break.

"Jo," he breathed as he caught the shoulder strap of her bag. His other hand went to her arm as he shielded her from the students rushing past. "We need to talk."

"I know," she frowned up at him.

'Oh, that beautiful frown on those lips. Those sad eyes looking back at me. Focus, Dan. Just tell her.' "I'm an idiot. I want you to know that I would have told you about the whole Candy thing..."

"When?" The question pushed him back.

"When the time was right. You haven't told me about the guy, either."

"The guy?" She looked away from him. "What guy?"

"You know what guy I'm talking about." He moved in close and pressed his lips to hers. He gripped her arm and moved her into contact with his crotch. Instinctively she pulled back and turned her body away from him. He watched her expression become less certain. "That guy. The one that you say doesn't exist. I thought we agreed that I wouldn't ask about your relationships if you didn't ask about mine. I thought Candy fell under that category, but she doesn't. I should have told you. I'm willing to lay it all on the table, but you're not ready to listen, are you? I'll be around when you're ready." He let her go and walked away.

*

Joanne spent the entire Christmas break with her parents. She even stayed behind when they went out for dinner. They thought this was so odd that they kept asking their only child what was wrong. She had always been the one to choose the restaurant and be the first one to be ready to go. Her father didn't want to complain. He had his favorite TV companion back, but she seemed lost in thought during their favorite programs. Once she finally zeroed in on the general area of her only daughter's distress, her mother kept asking about her sex life. Nonexistent was not an acceptable answer. 

"Honey, I was married by your age. You're saying you haven't met anyone?"

Joanne grumbled over some leftover turkey, "I've met a few dogs, that's it."

"Dogs?" Her mother frowned her perfect frown at her.

Joanne had always thought that Karen Davis Croix was the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. She wore the best clothes, said the right thing, and had a facial expression for every occasion. This particular occasion warranted the 'what in the world just came out of my girl's mouth' look. Jo never felt she could match up to that kind of an inheritance, so she just didn't try.

"Yeah, ma. Guys that only want one thing. Nobody worth my time," Jo sighed as she got up to pour herself some more grape juice.

"Don't try to lie to me. I can see it on your face. There was somebody really nice. So who was it?"

"Nobody. Some jerk, who had a girlf...fiancé he dumped but is still seeing."

Karen let out a sigh and then an unexpected laugh. "That's a relief."

"A relief?"

"Honestly, hon. I thought you might have been gearing up to come out of the closet or something."

"What?"

"Face it. You haven't stayed home during a break since your freshman year. The last boy you brought around here was when you were...14 years old. Your 21, Joanne. That's a pretty long time. I figured I'd have to start looking for girls you might like. I'm not much of a judge of women."

"There've been men," Jo started to lie but knew by the look on her face, that her mother wasn't buying it. "Okay, fine. I haven't dated at all."

"I didn't date, either. Your father was it. He literally fell for me. Head first into the fountain, right hon?" Her father, James, raised a hand from the couch as he pretended not to listen. She turned back to Jo and smiled knowingly, "I'd hate for you to miss out, because you didn't put yourself out there. No more hiding behind those books. Pretty soon, you won't have them anymore."

"I tried, Mom. I just can't do that again. He was so... I was completely fooled. You'll have to hold off on those grands you keep talking about. Maybe, when I'm in my thirties..."

***

Daniel paced in front of her apartment. He knew he'd seen her walk past the shop the day before. He wasn't imagining seeing her on the street. He wasn't crazy. She returned from her trip, but she didn't call him or stop in at the shop. He'd pressed her buzzer and she reluctantly agreed to come down. He'd thought that a few weeks would be enough for her to cool off. It had been more than enough for him to realize that he couldn't be without her. There was no way he would let her forget about him.

"Daniel," her voice had been firm when she finally came out to stand on the top steps. He smiled to himself. 'It took her a while to put up the front. Good. It's not entirely lost.'

His freshly cut hair shone black in the winter sun, as he moved up a step to be eye level with her. Though dressed in a heavy coat, he could see her shivering. He wanted to touch her, but understood that they weren't close enough for him to do that anymore. He searched her face with those slate blue eyes and breathed, "Are you ready to listen, now?"

"I..." He had looked her square in the eye. She hadn't been ready for that. She thought he'd avoid her, since Jesse said he was obviously back with Candace. 

He frowned at her, "I think we should talk about this before you decide to write me off. I'm willing to stand out here for the duration if necessary. Say yes now, so that you can get out of the cold."

"Uh, not here. Jesse..." They were both surprised at the softness of her voice.

"Fine, meet me at the shop in half an hour."

*

Jo wasn't sure why she was standing outside of Langiers with her hand on the door handle. Suddenly, the idea wasn't so great.

A beautiful woman with long curly black hair lounged at a table close to the cash register. That wasn't the reason she didn't want to go in. It was the way that David Langier took the woman's hand and smiled. This was the chosen one. The one that was worthy of his son's affection. She pushed her way into the restaurant anyway with her ratty jeans and quickly curled hair. Half an hour wasn't long enough for her to get into some semblance of good looking. Her mother showed her a few shortcuts, but there are no shortcuts for natural beauty. 'Yeah, Mom. I can hear you in my head. You should have put the styling lotion in so the curls would stay right in this wind. I know. Looks like it doesn't matter, anyway.'

David cleared his throat and said, "Joanne. What brings you here?" His words were airy and pleasant, but his eyes were intent upon her.

"Uh," she'd never been openly hated before. She crouched there in the entryway with her gloves in one hand.

"Joanne," Dan peaked around the door and ushered her through the kitchen and up to the house. "I'm sorry, I wanted to get to you before you saw Candace."

'That was Candace? I just knew it! Hell, what am I even here for?'

"I'm glad you came," he smiled as he sat her down on an overstuffed sofa. "I've seen you walk by the windows a few times. I wanted you to make the decision to come in. Why didn't you? Never mind that. You're here, now. Can I get you anything?"

She shook her head, "No thanks."

He cleared his throat and put two fingers into the collar of his polo to rub his neck. His eyes were so wide and intent on her that she turned away. She wasn't sure what emotion he was feeling, but it was too strong for her. She felt embarrassed for him to look at her that way.

"Truthfully, I've had two weeks to think of what to say, but it seems all wrong in my head, right now. Where do you want me to start?"

"I don't know. It's your story, not mine," she ventured a quick contact with those eyes and went back to studying the thread pattern of her jeans.

"Candy and I were childhood friends. We got together a few years ago. I did a lot of stupid things back then. I guess I was ashamed of what you'd think of me..."

"Donatello?" A sing-song voice trailed up the stairs. The woman's voice was bold and melodic as it grew closer. "Sweetie, it's nearly time for the dinner rush. Shouldn't you be getting the rolls together?" The statuesque woman from below entered and put her hands on his shoulders. "You know your dad hates to make them." With her flickering hazel eyes directed at Joanne, she leaned down and put her breasts to the back of his head.

"Candy..." 

Her fingers went to his face, and she purred, "Don't waste time up here with your tramp. You promised we'd talk about things after dinner."

"She's not a tramp..."

Jo stood up. She wanted to say something, but couldn't think of one nasty thing to say. 'You'd think with Jesse as a roommate, you'd have one ready!' She knew she looked like a moron just standing there with her mouth open. The girl cocked her head at Jo and smiled. Candy knew she'd won. 'Won? I didn't know there was a game.' Jo picked up her gloves from the sofa and turned away. "Tramp, slut, or whatever," Candy smiled at Jo. "She's still fuckin my man."

"Jo, don't go," she heard Daniel call after her, but by then, she was at the bottom of the stairs. She rushed past David before he could add to her ordeal and made her way through the dining area.

"Jo!" 

She set her jaw and kept walking. She got her hand to the outer door when someone grabbed her by the arm and turned her around. Daniel's eyes were nearly black as he pulled her away from the door. "No, you're not gonna do this. That's not how this is. Come back upstairs. Please."

"I can't do this," she hissed at him as she felt the stinging of her held back tears.

He scanned her face. 'She doesn't understand. I have to make her understand.' "But..."

"Don't look at me like that! Like I owe you something. Go have dinner with your girl." 

She pushed him away as she opened the door to the cold wind. He made a move to follow her out onto the sidewalk and she signal for him to stop. "Don't! Don't humor me with this show, okay? It was a mistake to come here. You really do like to make me look like I'm stupid. Well, this one was my fault. I don't blame you at all. Don't come after me and make it worse."

It didn't feel right, but he couldn't go against what she needed. He knew, just by the way that he looked at her, he was hurting her. Why did Candy have to show up and wreck everything? It looked like he'd invited the woman over. She'd been his best friend once. He couldn't just get rid of her, could he? He watched as Joanne walked up the path toward the parking lot.

***

"I told you he was a manho, girl. I don't know why you went over there," Jesse yelled over the din of the club. "I told you he was back with my girl. You didn't need to see for yourself."

Joanne looked around the crowded floor and clutched her stool. There were way too many people there than made her feel comfortable. Jesse had insisted on dragging her out after she saw her friend crying. It was better than being by herself, but not much. As usual, Jesse was the belle of the ball with the occasional man giving her a pity hello. She knew it was all about her attitude, but Jesse had a man and was still the flirt. She wasn't having a bad time. There were some funny moments when guys would get on the dance floor to impress their ladies. Jesse took every offer to dance that she got. Jo preferred to watch her friend show off her energy.

"It's that damsel in distress thing that you give off," Jesse smiled as she took a sip of the yellow fruit drink that she'd ordered. "Guys love that."

"No they don't. How many dances have you gotten tonight?"

"No, that doesn't count. A guy will usually take the easy lay, if offered," she pointed to herself, "but you're the prize, see. Gary's all obsessed with winning the prize. Hot Chocolate just wanted to steal it."

"Stealing. Winning. There is no prize. I told you before..."

"You don't get it! You're no man's land. Even if a man's been there before, you're not like Disneyland. Get it? They want to be the one that wipes that look off of your face."

Jo frowned down at her drink. She didn't want to ask what she meant, because Jesse was obviously drunk. It would also prove how naïve she was.

"You don't even know you have it, do you? You're all capable and smart, but all they see is virgin. It's in your eyes when you look at them. You're not dreaming about what you'd do to them if you got a chance."

"How do you know? I'm not a virgin, and I can fantasize with the best of 'em."

"That's just what they are. Fantasies."

Jo felt done with the lecture portion of the night and got up to retreat to the restroom. Her knees didn't quite agree with her and she struggled to keep her balance. She looked back at her drink and then to Jesse in surprise.

"Yeah, it had vodka in it. I figure you deserve a little bit of booze. You earned it."

She made it to the bathroom and back unassisted. She nearly missed her stool, though.

*

When he saw her sitting with Jesse, he nearly went over to try to talk to her, but he knew what would happen. It actually burned in his chest to see her visibly upset. He knew he'd caused the situation, and he would need to work hard to fix things. She was so beautiful. It didn't make much difference whether he was across the room or right next to her. She was just that attractive to him. 

"Hey, Ace," a deep voice came up from behind him. He turned to see a face he hadn't seen in years.

"Jerry! How are you," he greeted his old friend with a smile and a slap to the arm. "Long time no see!"

"Yeah, the circuit isn't very kind. I've got a gig out in Chalvers, so I thought I'd check out the scene. I'd've never thought I'd see you here." The thin black man dressed in dark clothing slid in closer so that Daniel could hear him. The two had been at high school together until their paths diverged. Jerry moved on to do music, while Daniel buried himself in biology.

"Yeah, well," Daniel tried not to glance over toward Joanne. "Something just drew me in here." Just then Joanne put her head back and exploded with laughter. He'd never seen her do that before.

"Like fate? Don't go on about that. It makes you look pathetic. Oh, I see," Jerry passed a long fingered hand in front of Daniel's face. "She's too much for you, boy."

"Huh?" Danny turned to face Jerry.

"There is no way that thick piece of chocolate would give you the time of day."

Jerry meant Jesse. Daniel gave a nervous laugh, "She already tried to give me more than the time."

"Tried?"

"She's not my style," Dan shrugged.

"Jesus! Go over there and get some of that. She'd break you off, but you'd die smiling," Jerry chuckled.

"Jer, it's not like that, okay? I had that. What about the other one?"

"The other one? She's a bit thin for my taste. If her face is half way decent, we'd talk. But, then again, you could always just turn her back to you to do your business."

Joanne stumbled off of her stool and looked back toward Jesse.

"Even better," Daniel heard. "The evening has one more possibility."

Daniel didn't like the smile that played across his friend's face. He watched as Jerry walked over to Jesse and whispered in her ear. Jesse smiled back at him and said a few words. Jerry had an extra skip as he maneuvered his way back to Daniel.

"Danny, you want the other one, I can arrange it. She said to just give them a few more drinks, and..."

"No."

"What?"

"No," he frowned as he focused squarely on his friend's eyes and looked away.

"Fine, I'll take 'em both. What is your problem?"

He watched Joanne shuffle her way back toward her seat. "Nothing," he said as he moved for her.

He was lucky to catch her before she fell to the floor. 

"Easy there, beautiful."

The thin fabric of her dress conducted the warmth of her flesh to his fingers as he moved her to sit down. He couldn't help how his fingers danced over her hips and across her waist. For an instant, she looked up with a smile, but she converted to confusion and then anger. She nearly growled, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same question of you," he caught her purse before it slid off of the table. "You don't drink, Joanne."

"Neither do you," she mumbled. "So! I'm fine! Why do you care?"

"Yes, you're fine, but that has nothing to do with what I'm seeing." He looked up at Jesse who was smiling indulgently at her wasted friend. "You need to take her home."

Jesse cocked her head at him and yelled, "Don't tell me what to do! We're having fun!"

He shook Jo's shoulder gently to catch her attention. "You need to go home before you get hurt."

She screwed up her face in a frown, pulled him in by his shirt, and said, "I really hate you."

"Well, I love you, too."

"I hate you."

"And, I love you."

"No, no," she shook her head and let him go. "I said I hate you."

"And, I said I love you. No matter what you say to me, I'll be saying that I love you."

"What?"

He took her face in his hands and pressed his lips gently to hers. Her usual sweet flavor was textured with pineapple. He wasn't sure whether the tingle on his lips was from the alcohol in the drink or her. 

"I love you, Joanne." He released her and commanded to Jesse, "Take her home, or I will."

"Okay, fine," Jesse finally agreed. He walked out of the bar.

Joanne was too shocked by the feel of his lips on hers to react. He'd done it right in the open. 'Why did he have to feel so good?' She couldn't quite get her thoughts in order to rebuff him. 'He's gone, anyway. The asshole. He sure had good lips, though. He can't just go around kissing a girl like that.' She caught a familiar profile in the crowd. It couldn't be him. It wasn't him. Then the man turned to reveal the rest of his face. It was him. She would know that broad laughing smile anywhere. She burst into tears. 'Stupid alcohol. I should have been ready for him.' She could hear Jesse asking what was wrong, but she couldn't stop herself. All this time, and she wasn't ready. She'd planned all of the things she'd wanted to say, but she couldn't think of one. The object of her hatred strolled up and said, "Hello ladies." She tried to broadcast her anger, fear and confusion, but it just came out as a garbled whimper. He looked right back into her eyes.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Oh, uh, Jerry," Jesse smiled the smile that should have been meant for Terrence right at him. "I'm gonna have to take a rain check. I gotta get my girl home, you know."




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 07



"That's okay, baby. You call me when you get her there. Maybe, we'll go do something."

"Sure. Give me an hour to sort this out."

"Yeah, bye." He looked back down at her and dismissed her with one glance. "Feel better."

'He didn't recognize me? How do you forget what some one looks like? I can't forget you, but you can forget me?'

Before she knew what she was doing, her hand had fastened around her drink and it was flying toward his back. Unfortunately, he was too fast and her aim wasn't good sober. It shattered harmlessly on the floor.

"What is your problem?" Jesse continued to try to get an answer from Joanne.

"Assholes! Asshole!"

"Jo, please. Of all the times for you to start swearin'..."

"Fucking asshole ruins my life and he doesn't care!"

"He ruined your life? No. He's nobody. We'll take care of him, won't we, baby?"

"Yeah! Next time I see him, I won't be drunk, and I'll tell him to fuck off!"

"You don't have to see him ever again. We'll take care of it. Just you wait and see."



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 08



Daniel couldn't get into his work at all. Joanne had said she'd hated him. He knew it had been the alcohol talking, but she'd said it repeatedly. If she'd meant those words, he might have gone out to drink himself, but her eyes told him it was a lie. After the third time he'd put the wrong thing in the ricotta blend, his father had sent him out to bus tables. He was managing to get the dishes into the tub without breaking them, so he felt a bit less incompetent.

"Yo, Danny." He looked up to see Gary smiling a deceptive smile at him. "You got a minute?"

Daniel directed him to sit and sat down opposite after putting the tub of dishes on the table. "Uh, sure. What brings you here?"

"You know why I'm here."

"No, I don't. You don't come in here." Dan wasn't in any mood to play games.

"Okay, we'll play your game. I've come to talk to you about Jo."

"She's your girlfriend. I stay on my side of the line. I get it."

"Yeah, that would have been the speech , before, but you went over the line. I don't know what you did last night, and I don't particularly care. I know it's not happening again, get me?"

"If you'd been there to stop her from drinking last night, I wouldn't have had to ..."

"Look, son. I've been talkin to Jesse, so I know all about your freaky ways. You want something random going on with some trick, I've got no beef with that. But when you come sniffing around my girl, that's when I have to check you."

'Son? Trick? Your girl?' "Whatever you think happened last night, it wasn't that way. She was drunk. I told Jesse to take her home. That was it." 'And if I want to kiss her, it's none of your business.'

"That wasn't it, and we both know it," Gary leaned in a put a meaty fist on the table for show. "I should slap your bitch ass for even acting like laying your hands on my girl is nothing. This being a public place, I'll stay calm. I know something went down between you two before. It's over now. If I even get the feeling that you're looking at her crossways, I will take you out."

The solid man pushed back his chair, gave him one last warning look, and walked out. 'That was a threat, wasn't it?' Daniel continued to sit down in his chair. 'How did this get so twisted?' His father, David tapped him on the shoulder and offered him a cordless phone. "You have a call. It sounded like Jerry."

* "Wake up, Sleepy Head," a voice cut through the thick sludge that had formerly been Joanne's brain. She groaned and hoped that that would be warning enough for whoever it was to leave her to die in peace.

"Get up, Jo!" The voice inches from her head made her pull her covers over her head. "Girl, get up." Jesse continued to prod her awake.

"Please," Jo whined. My head hurts."

"It should. Mayube next time, you'll handle your liquor better. I didn't know you were a weeping drunk."

'Weeping drunk? Oh, no. It wasn't a dream. I saw Jeremy last night. He didn't remember me.'

"Don't worry about Hot Chocolate. We're taking care of it, right now."

'Hot...Danny? Taking care of Danny? What for?' "What?"

"You don't remember how he made you cry like that?"

'Danny was there?'

"You don't remember him kissing you? Boy, I'da slapped the piss out of him, myself."

Joanne peeked out of the blankets and looked at Jesse in confusion. Her friend just smiled down at her and said, "Don't worry, Jo. I'm taking care of things. You don't have to worry about anything, anymore."

'That's what I'm worried about.'

* - - Hey man.- -

"Oh, hey Jer. How's it going."

- -You missed some acrobatic shit last night. You haven't the faintest idea what you turned down.- -

"Really," he tried to convey his annoyance over the phone.

- -I'd like to thank you for gumming up the works, too.- -

"Huh? What did I do? I left, remember?"

- -What the hell did you say to that little girl?- -

"I didn't say anything to anybody."

- -What did you say to her friend?- -

Daniel sat up straight. "Nothing. I just told Jesse to put her in a cab." 'And I told her I loved her, but she was so blitzed, she won't remember that.'

- - The girl was ugly crying when I walked up. She nearly took my girl out of the evening. I turned it around, though. You better not do that at the concert. I gave them some tickets...- -

Dan let the phone slip out of his hand and drop to his lap.

***

The moment Joanne got out of the car, she knew the night would be trying. Gary scolded her for getting out of the car before he could open the door. He'd been trying to be chivalrous, but she knew how inconsiderate he really was. She looked up at the theatre marquis. Jeremy was the main event. She'd known he would be in town for the concert he'd given Jesse tickets to. She wasn't sure what to do. Gary had no idea who Jerry Carter was. She had to think about how to handle this.

'He didn't recognize me, before. It's not like he'd stand up and point me out, right? He doesn't remember. I'll just go and try not to ruin this date for Gary. The boy is trying.'

He'd came over to ask her out in person. He'd even brought her flowers. Gary held out his hand to her and nodded toward the entrance. Joanne took his hand and let out a slow breath.

* Daniel sat backstage as Jerry downed the rest of his soda.

"Hey, I never did thank you for the writing credit," Dan smiled.

"That song was choice. The minute they heard it they had to have it. I was just lucky to be there when it came to you." Jerry tossed the empty can and straightened up in his chair.

"Too bad I didn't know who I was writing it for."

Jerry balled up a napkin and tossed it expertly at Dan's forehead. "I told you that Candy was a whore. You just thought I was jealous." He suddenly lit up, "I'd like to thank you for all of the legs you've opened over these years."

Dan felt his face warm. "That's not why..."

"Yeah, yeah. That's not why you wrote it. You wrote it because you were hard up and you thought you were in love. Well, look how wrong you were. Just use the song for what it is. A strange magnet."

Dan sighed, "Fine, Jer."

"Why don't you go out and enjoy the show. I'll line something up for later, if you're interested."

*

He went through the keys and smiled to himself as the theatre responded with enthusiasm. He leaned into the mic and said, "Thank you, Ladies and gentlemen, for your warm welcome. I'd like to start out with a song from my first album. The writer is in attendance, so I won't play around with it...this time. This one goes out to a special lady I used to know."

The intro was very familiar to Joanne, which made her cringe in her seat. She'd heard the awkward beginnings, not the polished flower that it was now. She'd heard that song all the way through about twenty times that summer. Jeremy's voice was just as low and caressing as he wove a spell of longing that gripped the room. She struggled to keep from falling back into how she was back then. Her eyes watered with the effort not to cry. When he finished, the uncomfortable hush exposed his satiated sigh. The crowd applauded. She was the only one that saw through him.

"If you find her, let me know," he chuckled lightly as he moved on to the next song.

"Angel?" Gary placed a hand over hers and looked at her with concern. She could feel the frown pressing down on her face.

She put on a smile for him and said, "It was so beautiful."

"This is just the beginning," he smiled as he gave her hand a squeeze.

Joanne had to admit that Jeremy could definitely play a piano. Through the entire evening, he joked and sighed his way into the audience's confidence. When he finally got up and walked offstage, she absolutely wanted to leave, but Gary didn't get up.

"You gotta go to the bathroom?"

Joanne looked back down at him and said, "Well, yeah. But, I thought we'd be going..."

"No, we're going to meet him, I got a great deal."

A great deal. She didn't agree. Joanne went to the bathroom and worked to get her emotions under control.

She looked at herself in the mirror as she washed her hands. 'He doesn't remember. You just walk in, say hello, and...' "It's nothing. You smile at him and go. Gary's happy, we go home."

"Oh look who's here," she heard a familiar voice behind her as she dried her hands with a paper towel. Candace in all of her glory growled, "I figured you'd show up here. What do I have to do to get you off of his back?"

Her long curly hair nearly concealed the spaghetti straps of her clinging green dress. Her subdued pink hands on her hips, she glowered, "What? You don't have anything to say, again?"

"No, I don't. I haven't seen Daniel since I last saw you."

"Oh please! You're trying to show what little you have to try to lure my Danny away."

"What? I don't do that." 'Gary wanted me to wear this thing! Stupid lavender rectangles.'

"Look at you! Honestly, purple does nothing for you. You don't even know what kind of eye shadow to use. Why would he go from me to you?"

Tired of the entire conversation, Jo forced her way out of the restroom and worked her way back to Gary. She didn't realize that showing her back to Candace was like red to a bull.

"You don't walk away from me," she heard as she felt a tug on her dress.

"Get off," she yelled as she grabbed the woman's arm, but it was too late. She felt the fabric on her back give way. As the front portion of her dress dropped, she cupped the free fabric to her breasts. Her back, and the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra, was bared to everyone nearby.

"Candy?" Daniel appeared behind Candace.

'Great! This could get worse, couldn't it? Where's the pie in the face?' Jo hunched with her shoulder toward him. Her instincts were to turn her back on the two, but she knew that would reveal more than she would have liked. Dan met Jo's eyes and quickly looked down. He took Candy's arm and led her away.

'He didn't stick up for me. He did once.' Joanne had been sure he would now, 'but he didn't even...'

"You okay, Jo," Gary came up behind her and put his jacket over her shoulders.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Let's get you out of that dress," he soothed. So much for that nice normal date.

"I'm sorry, Gary..." She sighed as she moved with him to the exit. "This wasn't the nice evening you had planned."

"Don't be sorry, hon. She's a crazy bitch. Only a white girl would go after the dress and leave the hair alone," he chuckled.

This was no joke. The woman really was crazy.

*

"Candy! Baby, how you doing?" Jeremy grabbed her up and spun her.

She laughed and kissed him full on the lips. "Tell Danny it's not my fault."

"What?" Jeremy looked to Daniel's sour expression. The moment Daniel heard Candy's voice over the usual crowd noise, he'd know it would be something involving Joanne. He'd arrived too late to stop what happened. All he could do was get Candy away from Joanne before something else happened. He knew candy too well to not expect her to try to increase Joanne's humiliation.

"That little girl he's been fucking started a fight with me. I finished it," she casually said as she sat down.

Jerry said, "You never said anything about a girl, bruh. Was that the one that you made cry?"

"There is no girl. Candy took care of that a while ago." Dan stared at Candy.

Just from his stance, she went on the defensive, "She attacked me first! You should have seen her. That little slut was smoothing down that dress and talking to herself about how she'd act when she saw you. I called her on it, and she hit me in the breast..."

"She would never do that," Dan called her on it.

Candy, seeing that he wasn't buying it, decided on a martyr approach.

"She did it. You want to see? I think it will bruise."

Dan let out a sigh. He'd seen this act before. "She's with Gary. She's been with Gary. Why would she attack you when she's with him?"

"Because, she wants you!"

Dan raised his hands to make her stop her calculated invasion of his personal space. "Joanne doesn't want me, thanks to you. I wouldn't want me either, if I came with you." He turned his back on her and grabbed his coat from the chair. "Just stay away from me, Candy." He pushed his way through the crowd and outside.

Jerry looked at Candy, "Joanne?"

"Yeah, that's the bitch's name." Candy frowned up at him.

"Joanne..." He smoothed his hair and asked, "Is it Joanne Croix?" 



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 09



"What is your problem? I thought we talked about this before." Joanne Croix stood in front of her door with her arms crossed. "I'm not ready to go in that direction with you."

Gary shook his head, "I'm tired of this, Jo. I'm a man. I'm not some boy you can just play around with. I've taken you out. Bought you stuff. I thought we had an understanding."

Jo frowned, "I'll get you your money back for the tickets..."

"I don't want the money back. I want you."

"Look, it's been a rough night. I..."

Gary moved close to her, put his lips to her head roughly and put his hand on the door knob. "Yeah, I know. I've got a family thing going on soon. I might have to leave town for a few days. I can't guarantee I'll have my phone on."

"Really," Jo said. 'He probably said that to have a reason not to talk to you. All you do is talk him out of sex anyway.'

"It's nothing with my mom or anything, but I don't think she'd want me spreading the family business without checking with her first."

"I understand. You're leaving soon?" 'Damn, it sounded like I wanted him gone yesterday.'

"Yeah," he frowned at her, "tomorrow night. How about you give me a good kiss, in case I don't see you tomorrow."

Jo raised her face and let him kiss her lips. Every second that he lingered over her mouth was too long. She felt his hands move up her waist to press his thumbs into her shirt and bra covered breasts. He held her there with his thumbs straining at the material between him and her flesh as he pushed harder with his mouth. She pushed against his arms and let out a squeal around his mouth.

When he let go, he smiled, "I knew there was a reason I'm sticking around. I want to hear you make that noise."

*

Joanne jumped as some loud noise stirred her from sleep. The sound repeated and she realized it was the cordless phone. She leaned out to the windowsill next to her bed where it was perched. She picked it up and let the bottom drop to the floor. 

"Uh, h-llo," she mumbled. 'What kind of idiot would be calling me while I'm trying to sleep? No, wait. It's got to be Gary. Did somebody die?'

--Beautiful, is he still there,-- a voice she didn't recognize slurred quietly.

"Wha? I think you've got the wrong..." She didn't really pay attention to the voice on the other end, since she was going to hang up any second.

--Joanne,-- the voice sighed, --I know you went home with him. I heard what he said. So, how ...me?-- A blast of music and conversation sounds made her miss the last part of the question.

"I can't hear you. Who is this?"

--This is Dan.--

"Dan," she sputtered fully awake. 'Daniel? You're calling me? You're calling me.' "Daniel. It's," she glanced at her clock, "One thirty A M! Why are you calling me?" 'I didn't even think you had my number.'

--I know what time it is. The bartender had a watch.--

"Bar... how much did you drink?"

--A lot, but I still remember your number, so....not enough?-- The voice now seemed more familiar with the slow careful way that he pronounced his words. The sounds faded. She figured he walked outside. If she hadn't heard the effects of alcohol earlier, she would have sworn he was sober. --I understand why you went out with him. I should have told you everything. Things would be so different, right now. You would have been with me, tonight.--

"Dan, if you wanted to talk to me, you should have done it before. You made yourself very clear."

--I tried at the shop, remember? I'm trying, now, Jo. I'm a moron, I don't figure things out too quickly. Come and talk to me. I'll buy you breakfast. Please, please say you'll come.--

"Who's with you?"

--Nobody but us chickens.--

"No, I mean who drove?"

--No one. I walked.--

'Walked? Crazy boy walked to a bar.' She asked as she slid into her jeans, "You walked?" The moment he begged her to come and talk, she'd gotten out of bed.

--Yeah, I walked right out of the place and straight for the nearest bar. How about I meet you at your house? Not if Jesse's there. I don't think I'm much for a fight right now.--

'First he wants me to go to breakfast, and now he wants to come over.' "Maybe, you should come over later in the morning. You can say what you have to say sober."

There was a pause before he said, --I don't think I will. I keep saying stupid stuff when I see your face. You're so pretty, I can't remember how to finish a sentence, sometimes. I need to do this now. You know I wouldn't bother you, if I didn't have it together enough to talk to you. Besides, I'd appreciate a warm up on the way home.-- His voice seemed to mellow in those last few words. He only did that when he was tired. She realized that she shouldn't have remembered that. He wasn't hers, and she shouldn't care if he was tired or not. She sighed, 'But, I do.'

"Well, I guess you could come over for a minute. I have coffee, if you need it, but you can't stay." She couldn't let him stay in her apartment. Not after what happened the night before. She wasn't going to let him die of hypothermia, though. He could warm up and be on his way. "Where are you? I could pick you up."

--Nice, thoughtful, beautiful Joanne. That's not necessary. I'm outside your building.--

Jo went to the window, but she couldn't see the ground level through the ice covered branches..

--Angel, I'm freezing out here. Buzz me in?--

"Oh, okay." She walked over and pressed the button. She felt a lot apprehensive afterward. What was he doing at her place wanting to talk? She thought there wasn't anything left to say. She hung up the phone and waited for him to knock. 'I've got to be crazy to do this. Haven't I learned my lesson? He didn't back me up when he knew she'd started it.'

A loud tapping pulled her from her thoughts.

"Hey," Daniel puffed as he moved through the door.

"Did you run up the stairs?"

"Yes," he panted. "Wanted to get here fast. Before you had time to change your mind."

"Well," she nodded in what she hoped to be a noncommittal way.

"I am such an idiot. I didn't bring you your Christmas present or flowers. That's what you deserve. Flowers every day. I always thought of bringing you flowers, but I never did. That way, you'd have that secret smile just for me," he babbled as he dropped heavily to the couch. He sprawled out across it as though he would take a nap. She'd gotten it because it was big enough for her father to fit comfortably, but she didn't think of anyone sleeping on it. Dan looked like he was napping on a half sized couch.

'Oh, yeah. Boy's totally rocked,' she thought as she followed him to the couch. "Danny, you said you were just here to warm up a bit before going home. You can't stay here."

"Why not? Why can't I spend the night with the woman I love?"

Jo blushed, "First off, it's morning already. Second, you don't love me."

"First, you know what I meant, ...and I meant what I said...uh, second," he murmured as he bunched up one of her cushions under his head. He pouted slightly as he settled into the pillow and closed his eyes. He was still breathing a bit hard from running up the stairs, but she got the distinct impression that if she let him, he'd pass out right there on her couch.

"Daniel Langier, get up, now."

He slowly rose to a swaying sit. "Okay, dear."

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever you say..." He struggled mentally. "Sweetheart."

The smile crossed his face slowly as he watched her reaction. At that moment, he was too defenseless to fight. 'Aggravating boy.' She shook her head and watched him lean heavily on the arm of the couch. He looked through her with those deep odd blue eyes. They seemed a muddy green, now. 'Were they always green? No, they're blue a really dark blue.' Jo watched a prepared speech roll through his brain. She knew it was the one she walked out on a few nights before. She felt it like watching a train wreck you can't stop.

"You know...I am so gone for you. You have no idea what I would do for you, do you? From the first moment I saw you..."

She tried to stop him from going on with the speech by crossing her arms and saying, "Danny..."

"I am trying to say something, here. You'll get the floor when I'm done." His eyes flashed in challenge as he said, "No really. You have absolutely no idea how much this hurts, do you?" He pulled at the front of his shirt. "It's like a fire. No matter what I do, it won't die down. It just eats at my insides. I have never felt like this in my entire life. Not ever. If you felt this, there'd be no way in hell you'd keep me away. But, you do. You're doing it now, with your arms crossed, and... There hasn't been one time that I thought that you hated me. And... Gary. What do you see in him? Would you marry some guy that would beat somebody up for you? Is that what you need, testosterone? How about somebody that would take the beating? I did that. I'd still do that. Do you understand? I want to be yours. You should be with me. Not him. Come back to me. Be with me, please." His voice faded.

'What the hell are you gonna say to that?' She sat down next to him and looked at her knees. A month ago, she would have wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. 'Anybody that would say that to me deserves that, right? But he's drunk and probably horney, so I can't trust my ears right now. Can I?'

"I know you don't love me. But, don't ever tell me that I don't love you," he growled as he rested his head on his hand and looked over at her. "I've loved you forever."

"Dan..." His hand went to hers and pulled it from the now loose circle she'd made around her waist.

He used his palm as a pivot as he shook his head slowly, "No, don't try to tell me I'm wrong. I just know." His head slid off of his hand and he snapped upright. He focused for a moment at her hand in his then let it slide away. His palm pressed against her cheek briefly. "I'm drunk. I should probably go home."

* 

Daniel awoke to the sound of his own moaning. He felt around the bed and opened a bleary eye. He was home. He wasn't quite sure how he got there. His throbbing head testified to the liquor he'd used liberally to try to block out the previous night. The alcohol had done nothing to help him forget the look on her face when he took Candy's arm. He should have done what he'd wanted and taken Jo away from the situation, instead. 'Yeah, her boyfriend would have just loved that.' A pounding on the door made him jump upright. 

He knew the excruciating pain in his head would increase exponentially because of this. 'Wait for it. Wait for it.... Jesus Christ!' He clutched at his head with a plaintive wail.

"Danny," his father called him. " Are you okay? Come out and greet the world. It's afternoon, now."

An unearthly voice fell from his open lips, "Stop beating on the door."

He rolled back to his mattress and pressed the pillow to his head.

David's voice was too close, "I didn't beat on the door. I gave a light tap, like every morning. Pheh! Smells like a distillery. Come, get up." The pillow pulled away along with the blanket. "Get out of my suit. Get in the shower. You don't drink."

Dan blinked at the sudden brightness as David pulled back the curtains. "I did a pretty good job last night."

"I thought you went to Jerry's show."

Dan peeled off the suit jacket and worked uselessly at the shirt buttons. His fingers weren't getting the message to grasp the small buttons. Frustrated just looking at his son, David helped get the shirt off.

"Yeah," Dan gained what was left of his real voice back, "I went. Then, I went to drink."

"Did you drive? No, he picked you up. Jerry shouldn't have..."

"I went by myself. I walked back." 'Or maybe, I got a cab' "It was all me," he sighed as he pulled off his pants. 

David put a hand to the side of his son's face to get his attention. "Danny, don't do this again."

"Yeah, Pop. There's no chance I'll do that."

"Promise me."

Dan closed his eyes and saw Joanne's frowning face as he'd left her at the theatre. 'No, it wasn't at the theatre. She had a t-shirt on.' "I can't do that." 

"Perhaps, you should go back to sleep. Your mind is off."

"There's not one thing wrong with my mind, Pop," he sighed as he dropped back to the bed. 'It's my heart.'

***

"Hey, girrrl," Jesse drew out the last word as she sat down at the kitchen table next to Joanne. She thumped down a plain paper bag next to Jo's papers. "Gary just backed out of going to the club. He said I should talk to you. What happened?" The tone had been more what did you do than what's wrong with him.

"Nothing," she looked up from her textbook. "He's got to go back home. There's a family emergency." 'Or so, that's what he said. He hasn't said much since the concert. He was so mad that night. He said he was okay with us not doing anything, yet. Maybe, he changed his mind.'

"Oh, so that's why he wasn't his charming self. I thought it might be that thing with Candy the other night. He said he took you home before you got a chance to meet Jerry."

She sighed, "Stop talking about it. She's crazy. He said he'd call when he got a chance."

"Hey, that's good. Phone sex is always a good way to spice things up."

"We're not having any kind of sex, Jess. I told you. We're not at that point, yet."

"You better get to that point or he'll go there without you."

Joanne looked back up from her book. This interruption would take some time to manage, so she slid her bookmark in and shut it.

"I don't ask you about what you do, so why do you have to get in my business?"

"Cause I'm trying to get you into some business so it'll be more interesting." She idly pulled a paper cup out of the bag and set it down. The scripted swirls of the Langier's logo encircled the cup. "Besides, you need to cement this relationship, so that you can think about after graduation."

"After graduation, I'm applying to grad school."

"Huh? Since when?"

"Since I'd like to learn as much as I can." 'Since, I need to figure out what I really want.'

"Didn't you say you were going to get a job and a man?"

"No. I never talked about a man. You're the one that always talked about men. I don't have the time..."

"Bullshit! I know I wasn't talking to myself. What? Did Gary say he didn't want to get married or something?" Shocked, Jo sat up straight in her chair and blinked, as Jesse continued to speak, "All he talks about is you, so you shouldn't take that too seriously. He was probably saying that to call your bluff about that sex thing."

"There's no bluff. How did we get here? I don't want to have sex with him, because I don't want to have sex with anybody. We didn't talk about marriage or any of that kind of stuff, because we're not close enough for that."

Jesse raised an eyebrow and smirked, "You were close enough to Hot Chocolate."

Jo looked away from Jesse. She hadn't mentioned to her friend that Danny had made a drunken visit. It was embarrassing really. He said some things Jo was sure he didn't mean. He even went so far as to beg for her forgiveness which really creeped her out. She'd taken him home after that. It was all she could do to get him inside his house without waking up the entire neighborhood. 'If his dad had come out, I would have died right there in his bedroom with his arm over my shoulder.' "No, I wasn't. You know that!"

"You didn't talk to him about the future? Probably planned out your wedding all those long nights, didn't you?"

'He said he loved me forever.' "It wasn't like that!"

"Why are you yelling, then? He is no reason to get rid of a good guy like Gary. You need to get you're act together. Danny's not worth this misery. You said so yourself."

'I did? It was probably when I was blitzed out of my mind.' "You keep bringing him up, like you have to remind me that he didn't care about me! I know it, already! I'm over it! I'm over him! Lay off of it!" 'You big fat liar! You bought every damn word of his bullshit. If he said that stuff sober, you would have done something stupid that night.'

"I wish I could, but I can't," Jesse smiled as she took a sip of her drink. She frowned at the cup and said, "Ugh. What the hell is this. I ordered the hot chocolate. Does this taste like hot chocolate to you?"

She set the cup down and pushed it toward Jo.

Jo picked it up and smelled it. It didn't smell like a Langier's hot chocolate. She took a sip. It was bad. It was the kind of runny mess that had a bunch of cocoa at the bottom of the cup when you were done.

"You're right. This stuff is garbage. Did you make some to take with you?"

"Hell, no. I got it from there. Here's your chance. If you're over him. You won't mind taking this back to Langier's and getting me a good one." 



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 10



"You won't mind taking this back to Langier's and getting me a good one."

'Oh, yeah sure, Jesse. I'll just get my coat on and drive on down to Langier's to get you a fresh hot chocolate, because I'm just here to do your bidding.' Joanne shook her head at herself as she stood outside of Langier's. 'Why don't I tell that girl off? She's not much of a friend lately.' She knew it was pitiful and stupid, but this wasn't really about Jesse's hot chocolate. She figured she could go over to the office and see if the schedule was up for next week. That was the lie she was telling herself. She tried to prove to herself that she didn't really want to see him as she pushed into the shop. She pretended that she didn't want to see if Daniel looked at her the same way he had that night. 'That's just stupid. The man was drunk off of his ass.' As she got into line, she wondered, 'Maybe, if I see him and he's different, I can stop the stupid thoughts. He didn't want me, right? If he acts like he doesn't know me, I can convince myself to forget what he said...'

"Joanne? Long time, no see," David Langier smiled at her and pulled her out of the line. "How is that young man of yours?"

"Who, Gary? He's fine, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Yeah," she tried to lie, "I've just been so busy with the start of classes. We haven't had much time."

"Too bad for him," he placed a hand on her arm and showed her to a table in the corner. "Do you have time to talk?"

It was a little after noon on a Saturday. Of course she didn't have anything else going on. 'I wish I could lie'

"Sure," cautiously came out of her mouth. "I'm just getting something for a friend."

"Good. We can have a chat."

'Chat?' Jo wasn't too sure about herself anymore. She didn't want to be rude, so she agreed to the conversation. The elder Langier excused himself and went over to one of the workers behind the counter. He said something with a nod toward Jo and returned with a calm smile to his face.

*

At first, Dan thought he imagined her speaking outside the kitchen door, but the door swung open and he saw the side of her face as she nodded to his dad. He moved toward the door, but he got an order for two of the special chocolates. 'Pop knows I'm the only one that can do that. He's keeping me busy. What is he trying to pull?'

*

"So, tell me about yourself." Jo could have sworn David scanned her body. 'Or did he just notice me move my hands to my lap?'

"There's not much to tell. I'm a student. I graduate this semester."

"No," he frowned, "where are you from? What do your parents do? That sort of thing."

'Why the hell does this guy want to make nice all of the sudden?' "I'm from about an hour north of here. My dad's an artist, and Mom works in a bank."

"An artist? What kind of an artist?"

"Painting mostly, but he's done sculpture and other things over the years. I think Mom would paint too, if he'd give her enough room in the studio."

"And why aren't you an artist. It must be in the blood like most things," David raised an eyebrow.

'Wow. He wants to carry on a normal conversation after what he did before.' "I thought I'd be a painter, but I'm not too good with anything but hands. I doubt if a career could be made in hand portraits."

David surprised her with a laugh, "I don't know. There are some who would pay a lot of money for a painting of my hands in dough."

She couldn't help but smile back, "I'm sure there are." She'd been caught up in the familiarity of his smile. It slowly moved across his eyes, as if he himself were surprised that the emotion had managed to take his entire face. She looked down to keep from seeing the similarity to his son's smile. His long fingers traced a pattern on the tablecloth. Daniel's hands were just as slender.

'I figured a bread maker's hands would be more solid.'

As though he heard her thoughts, David said, "It's hereditary. The long fingers. Our family were bowmen, and later, musicians. Even now, Daniel and I are the only ones without music."

"Dan plays the piano at the Bans," she informed him.

"Yes, well, he stopped that before Christmas," he looked to his employee as two mugs of hot chocolate were placed in front of them. 

*

Dan watched from the door as she put her fingers around the outside of her mug to warm up her fingers. He wanted to talk to her. He thought she wouldn't come within a mile of the place. 'If she's here,' he figured, 'It's not as bad as Christmas break. I have a tiny chance left. What the hell am I gonna say!?' He moved back into the kitchen to regroup.

* Just from the scent that traveled up from the liquid, she could tell this was the real thing. The drink that she'd missed for over a month beckoned to her. She stared down at the whipped cream. 'I don't need you, hot chocolate. You won't win me over so easy.' She felt David's hand close around hers. 

"You have such small hands. Does your mother?"

Oddly, Joanne couldn't move away from his caressing fingers. She just looked back into his frowning face. 'Is he hitting on me? No. He couldn't...Is he?'

"Hey, man," Jo looked up into Jeremy's smiling face. "I thought you were too old for this shit. This is ridiculous."

"Jerry! You're staying in town?" He let go of Jo's fingers and shook Jerry's hand. "I thought you were headed for Cleveland."

Jeremy stared down into her eyes. She couldn't seem to do anything but stare right back. A jumble of words crowded into her throat and froze there.

David acknowledged their attention, "You two know each other?"

His response was a low, "Do we, Jo? Or are you gonna act like you don't know me, again?"

"We know each other," she frowned as she cleared her throat and forced herself to look away. 'What good would it do?'

"Well, I'm glad you're not crying this time. I didn't recognize you. You must have lost weight or something, and your hairs a lot longer."

He slid down into a chair next to David. "You know," he leaned over toward David, "this girl was the love of my life, but she never gave me the time of day."

"I remember it differently," she said to her mug of hot chocolate.

"Yeah, you would. All you cared about were my hands on the piano, anyway," he laughed in his low self-deprecating way.

"I cared about more than that," her voice trembled. 'I can't just sit here and have a conversation with you.' She took a big reassuring swig of the hot chocolate. It scalded her tongue on the way down, but she kept the smooth movement of her cup back down to the table. She felt the whipped cream on her nose and wiped it off.

Jeremy's eyes narrowed, "Then why'd you avoid me after I told you how I felt?"

'Because of what you did!' "I've got to get going," she said as she tried not to scowl at Jeremy.

David insisted as he stood up with her, "Stay. I thought we were trying to have a conversation."

"I..." She was about to make a polite smile and sorry excuse.

"Yeah, stay," Jer took her hand.

"No!" She knew her scream had been too extreme of a reaction, but it was out of her control. She achieved the goal of getting his hand off of her. She grabbed up her coat and scarf to leave, but Jerry blocked her exit.

"What's your problem? We haven't seen each other in a long time. I missed you, Jo. I wanted to catch up with you." His hands were on her arms and he leaned in toward her face. "Didn't you miss me?"

'Get yourself out of this. Think before he...'

She closed her eyes and allowed the kiss to land on her cheek. His lips lingered on her skin for a brief moment then he looked into her eyes. She looked right back and said, "Are you done with me, now?"

*

Dan heard her raised voice again as he prepped for the dinner crowd. He dropped the dough and pushed his way through the swinging door. He wasn't sure if he should step in. They looked like they were hugging at first, then Jerry moved in on her. Dan didn't see what happened next, because Jerry leaned down. When he could see Joanne's face, he immediately knew she hadn't wanted it to happen. Dan moved a few steps forward before he knew what he was doing. No one saw she was going to blow. Her low menacing voice should have been warning enough, but Jeremy didn't seem to notice. Dan's head got hot. He knew it wasn't right to be jealous, but he knew how Jerry was with women. There could be no legitimate reason for him to kiss her, like that, in public.

*

"Since when are you so rude," Jerry scanned her face.

"Since I'm done being afraid of what people say about me. What makes you think you can touch me?"

"What?" She took advantage of his confusion and moved out of his grasp. 

"You can't touch me," she heard come out of her mouth in a growl.

"I just did. What is this? I thought you'd be happy to see me," Jerry scoffed as he moved closer, again.

"I'm not," she said as she avoided his next advance and picked up her purse. She held it at chest level as she backed up against a table. 'Stupid. What are you doing? Put that thing down at your side. What is a purse gonna do to him?' She let the purse fall toward the floor, with the strap firmly in her fingers, while she pulled on her coat. 

"Joanne," Jeremy attempted to appease her. "Let's just sit back down and talk. You can tell me how you've been..."

"No, thank you." She pulled her coat together and turned her back to him.

"For gods sake, Jo! We were lovers..."

Joanne wasn't sure how she looked, but she couldn't deny her frustration any more. 'Everything is not okay. How dare you act like it is.' She swung the purse in an arc that made contact with his arm. Jeremy stood, stunned, with his hand where her purse had struck him.

"Is that what you call it?"

Jeremy didn't respond. She could see him thinking. The next thing she knew, she was being held firmly in David's arms as she seethed in her attempt to strike out. She had to have made a rush for him, but she didn't remember.

"Huh? Mr. Big Man? Is that what you call it? Is that what you tell yourself when you remember what happened?"

Jeremy raised his voice, "You're startin to get on my nerves, now," as if she were some bad little girl.

"Answer the question. Were we lovers?"

"I don't need this," he shook his head at her as if she'd gone crazy.

She stopped struggling and David cautiously let her go. She straightened out her coat and looked directly into Jerry's eyes.

"You don't get to touch me."

Joanne left the shop as fast as her shaky legs could carry her. 'Wow! That was...What the hell was that? Man, I looked crazy. I know it. I'm no better than Candy. At least, I didn't have as big of an audience. I should have done worse. I could have. No. If I'd done that anywhere else, he wouldn't have taken it like that.' She got to the intersection and crossed the street before she saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. 'Oh, no. He's coming after me.' She looked back into Daniel's eyes as he stood with the door open. 

He just stood there with the cold wind whipping through his clothes. He faced her direction, so she looked around. 'He can't be looking at me.' Sure enough, Candace approached from behind her. 'Today just gets better and better,' Joanne sighed.

"What were you doing?" Joanne heard as she put her head down and walked past Candy. "Were you looking at him? Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Jo kept on walking. She heard Candy try to keep up with her. Jo stretched her legs a bit farther and sped up. 

* Dan jogged up to try to stop Candy from following, but they were too close together. Joanne could turn around and see him right next to Candy. She'd jump to the wrong conclusion, again. He'd be farther from his goal. She hadn't headed in the direction of her car, so she had to be headed for the office. He knew it would be the long way, but he ran around the side of the building to the street side entrance. He knew she'd take the stairs. She always did. 'Why would today be any different.' He pressed the button for the elevator.

*

"Damn it, you bitch! Get back here!"

Joanne paused in mid-stride. 'It's okay. Keep moving.' She'd made it across the park and to the steps of the sciences building, before Candace finally ran to close the distance between them.

"Look, you little slut...whore. Don't...phew...make me..." Candace panted for breath with her fist raised toward Jo's nose.

"What?" Joanne wasn't as winded. She walked across the park at least four times every day. "Don't make you kick my black ass?"

Candace reared back in surprise.

"If you ever catch me near Daniel again, you'll try to kill me or something like that, right?"

Candy just blinked.

"Well, go right ahead." Jo did her best imitation of Jesse. "What? You don't feel like it just now? I could really use a good fight, right about now. Listen good. He's not with me. He's yo man. And as far as fuckin him goes, I don't fuck. Not him. Not anybody. I still owe you for that stunt you pulled after the concert, so I'd be really nice to me." 'GIIIRRRLLLL!!!! What the hell is getting into me? I've never seen that look on her face. Not on anybody's. Not because of me, anyway.' Candace stayed at the foot of the stairs with her manicured fingers touching her throat as Joanne went up and into the building. Jo wanted to apologize, but she figured it did Candy good to be put in her place for once. She watched from a corner window as Candy made her way back toward Langier's. 'Well, that does it. I'll just never go back there ever again. Maybe I should drop out of school. It would be easier to explain.' Jo took her time up the stairs and to the third floor. She had needed to get to somewhere normal when she turned for the sciences building in the first place. The only slightly normal place she could rely on was Dr. Samuel's office. She knocked.

"What on earth? Joanne, you're not scheduled to be here," he said in his usual brisk way. "It's Saturday."

"I'm sorry, doc. I'll just come back some other time," she made an attempt to leave.

"No, come in and meet my wife. We're just stopping off before I take her to lunch. Why is your scarf wrapped around your wrist like that?"

She recoiled. It wasn't really anything that he did that set her off. She looked down at the scarf she'd been clutching in her hand. Dr. S had smiled slightly when he said the word wife. He probably didn't even know he'd done it, but it was just normal enough to make the tears roll down her face anyway. It had been too much to think that she could progress with her day as if nothing happened.

"I'm so sorry," she whined as she turned away and went for the door to the stairs.

She didn't get very far. Daniel stood there covered in flour. Before she could gather her thoughts enough to figure out what to do, he'd pulled her into his arms. She resisted his embrace. He hadn't heard what Dr. S had said, but he felt her rigid body moving away.

"Please, Jo. You've been brave enough, today," he whispered with a firm squeeze.

She looked up into his slate eyes. 'I have, haven't I?' He urged her into the office that they'd shared the semester before. It felt so right to comfort her. Daniel crooned to her as she shuddered in his arms, "It's gonna be okay. I promise. Don't make me do this anymore, Jo. I can't do this..." She heard him speaking softly to her but didn't care what the words were. Just the warmth of him made her feel better. His eyes burned as his throat refused to let him say one more word. 'I can't keep away from you. Just let me stay.' He pressed his cheek to her hair and moaned softly in the hope that she would get what he was feeling. Dan rocked there, just inside the room, wrapped protectively around her. She raised her face and snuggled into his shoulder. Joanne looked up at him with those wide almond shaped eyes. Her mouth opened slightly as he squeezed her tighter. Her hands moved to touch his neck and pulled him down to be inches from her lips. He waited there for her to make the next move. It didn't take long for him to feel her fingers caress his ears and a pressure on his lips. He watched her close her eyes as she parted her lips and let him have her tongue. She tasted so warm and sweet that he almost took the lead and held her head. When she stopped the kiss, he put his lips to her salty cheeks and then let his nose settle on her left temple. They lingered together until a knock came to the door.

Dr Samuels peaked in, "Is she better?" His inquiry was greeted by two sets of reddened eyes. "Oh, this isn't good. Has someone died?"

Dan shook his head. He didn't care that the professor saw him, but he felt Jo tense up against his body. She pressed at his chest with her palms. 'Oh, no no no. What have I done. What am I doing?'

"I'll just leave you to it, then," Dr. S softly said as he retreated.

As the door closed, he put his lips to her forehead before reluctantly moving away from her. Dan looked into her eyes. That wall was back up, and it was being reinforced as he watched.

She scanned his face. 'Oh, god! He felt so good. Why did he have to feel like that?' "Why?"

"Why am I here," his voice came as a raspy whisper. "Why do you think?" He made a move to touch her face, but she moved away. She couldn't stand the delicious thought of him touching her.

'Ah! Not out of pity. Don't think about his hands or his mouth. Or...!' "Why are you? You should be with her."

"Let's not talk. I'll take you home."

'Taking me home right now would mean I'm okay with being girl number two.' She shook her head, "You need to go find Candy..."

He dodged one way and caught her hand as she tried to avoid him. "You need to go home. You shouldn't have come here after what just happened."

"You saw that? I'm sorry. Tell Candy I didn't mean..."

"Don't you dare take back all of this," he frowned as she pulled out of his grasp. "Why can't you just let me help you?"

"Because...It's wrong. You shouldn't be here." She muttered as she glanced around the room. She would look anywhere but directly at him. She didn't want to see the sympathy on his face. She had broken down, hadn't she?

"How can this not be wrong? You won't let it be any other way," slipped out of his mouth before he could censor it. This wasn't the time. He didn't need to make her more upset. Not today.

"You started this. Why couldn't you have left me alone?"

He marveled at how quickly she'd replaced her tears with anger. Her hands pressed firmly against her hips, she frowned at the wastebasket in the corner instead of up at him. Her front was nearly complete. Instinctively, Dan backed away. This wasn't about him. She was after herself.

"I was just fine without you," she tried to convince herself. "I had it together. Why did you have to make an idiot out of me? Look at me. Look what you did. I'm a mess."

He responded quietly, "Okay. You want to fight. I get it. But, you can't make me go away. It's not that easy to make me hate you. I'll take you home."

She pulled in air to make a big protest, but he interjected, "There's nothing you can say about it. You may not want me to be the one, but there's no one else here. Just let me do it." The frown subsided slightly. He pulled up a clean corner of his apron and ran it across her cheeks. "Now, go apologize to Doc, so I don't miss the dinner rush."

Joanne didn't argue. She didn't have the strength. 'Why is he still here? What is wrong with me? Why does he insist on seeing me like this?' Jo apologized flatly to Dr. S and allowed Dan to take her home. 

*

He managed to follow her back to Langier's parking lot. They got into his car and he made sure she got in. Though her face pointed away from him for the entire ride, he could tell that she was tired. On the way up the stairs to her apartment, she leaned heavily into his side. Dan broke the mutual silence by saying, "Are you okay to make it the rest of the way?" 

She nodded silently as she looked up at the door. He dropped down a few steps and pressed a kiss to her cheek. 'She let me do that. Wow! Stupid, don't take advantage of this. She might not feel the same tomorrow.' "I'll let you go the rest of the way alone. You don't want to have to explain why I would be here, right?" He hoped she would ask him to stay.




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 10



"Oh, no. The chocolate. Jesse sent me there for hot chocolate..." Her voice was slow and quiet.

At that, they heard a door open above. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Daniel moved up the stairs and moved Jo into the room. "You're not starting this with me, today. Jo needed a ride home. She earned it, so leave her alone."

Jo walked past Jesse's surprise and dropped to the sofa. 

"What the hell did he do to you?" 

He ignored Jesse and put his hands on Jo's shoulders. He bent down and said, "If you need me, call me. If you don't call me by Wednesday, I'm gonna come calling. You're gonna need to talk, and I need to listen."

He turned to Jesse and took her by the arm. "I better not hear one word about you harassing her about today. She stood up for herself. That should be enough. I know you sent Gary over to threaten me. I also know what you did with Jerry Carter. If Jerry ever sets foot in this apartment again, I swear to god, it'll be the last thing you do."

"I know you didn't just threaten me. Who are you to talk to me about who I see?"

"I know Terrence was at the Bans waiting for you, Thursday night. I saw him waiting there for over two hours. I also know that you and Jerry were out at the starlight pub." The indirect threat registered in her furrowed brows. He wouldn't tell Terrence, but the look on her face was worth the implication. He took one last glance at Jo and went out of the door.

*

Dan parked his car behind the shop and walked into the kitchen. His father looked up from a row of chicken drumsticks he was patting dry. By the look on his face, Daniel knew.

"He's still here," Dan hissed as he moved toward the swinging door.

"Donatelo, I didn't know. I would never have asked her to sit down, if I had known what would happen..."

He turned around, "You knew he was gonna do this?"

David moved between Daniel and the dining area. "Son, he said they knew each other when they were younger. He said she would be happy to see him..."

Dan brushed past his father with one thing in mind. 'Jerry!'

Jeremy stood up from the table and raised his hands in defense. Dan grabbed him by his collar and moved him away from where Jo's mug of hot chocolate still sat.

"I'm sorry, man," Jerry pleaded as Dan bunched his shirt up in his fists.

Dan cocked his head to the side, "You're sorry? You're sorry? For what?"

"Whatever happened, guy. For whatever happened. I know you like her, but that's no reason to get all bent out of shape."

He shoved him away and into another table. "What did you do?"

Jerry didn't respond right away. He straightened his shirt and looked down at his shoes. "What do you want me to say? We were kids. We did some things that we probably shouldn't have done. Do I know why she's all mad about it now? No."

Dan ran a hand through his hair. 'Can't think.' The need for his fist to make contact with Jerry's face was losing out to confusion. They had been friends, hadn't they? His ears were so hot. How could someone be so oblivious?

"Danny, I didn't do anything to her. You know me. I'd never hurt Joanne. Not when there're so many other finer girls out there. I mean, shit, her roommate still wants a little more. And, don't get me started about Candy..."

For the past few years, Daniel had deluded himself with the thought that Candy and Jerry hadn't been together. Dan had to make him shut up to keep up the fantasy. The easiest way seemed to be a fist to his mouth. The strike hadn't been as satisfying as he'd hoped, but Jerry leaned against the table in surprise.

Jerry straightened up, "You don't want to fight me. You're gonna be sorry."

"I'm already sorry I didn't do that sooner. You'd probably be better for it," Dan growled.

"She's just a girl..."

The next few punches went unchallenged as Dan advanced on him. "Shut UP! You don't even remember, do you?"

"Of, course," slid out of his lips as he countered with a quick elbow to Dan's ribs. "I remember!"

Dan managed to stay upright and faced Jerry with his hands ready. His chest refused to expand fully and let the much needed oxygen in. "Then why... Why would you..." 'Why would you want to set up a meeting with her?'

Jerry didn't answer his question. "Hell, she was there. I knew she had a crush on me. We both got something out of it. I figured she'd forgive me."

Danny held his ground as Jerry moved to face him. 'Forgive you?' What little air that managed to make it into his lungs hissed right back out. He remembered Jerry calling him the day after his launch party. 'I had her all on my jock... I was afraid people would hear her moaning and come back in.'

Jerry assumed the mirror image of Daniel's fighting stance and said, "You forget, I was right there in class with you. If you want me to ruin my hands because you've got it for Joanne, I'll do it. But, I don't want her coming between us. Whatever it is she told you, it's a damn lie." 



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 11



Tuesday afternoon.

Dan couldn't take it anymore. He hadn't heard from Jo since he left her apartment on Saturday. He knocked on the apartment door. When Jesse opened the door, she seemed relieved to see him. Just from that reaction, Dan knew the situation at the apartment was bad.

"Danny, you've got to do something. She hasn't said a word since...What happened to your face?"

His lip and left cheek looked better the day before. He licked the still swollen corner of his mouth. The bruising in the shape of a fist made it impossible to not see that he'd been in a fight, but he kept silent anyway by keeping the attention where it should be, "She didn't come to class. That's two days in a row. I'm not waiting until tomorrow."

Jesse let him in and watched him set down a grocery bag. "She hasn't left the house since you brought her home. Will you please tell me what happened? I haven't gotten a word out of her, and you look like shit."

Dan would have said something like, "Thanks a lot. Like your opinion of me matters," but he was too distracted. "She in bed?" He went through the cabinets and drawers to assess his inventory.

"No, she's in the shower. What are you doing? And, you still didn't answer me. What happened to you? Gary hasn't called back. I called him about twenty times. Did he do that to you?"

"I'm doing something," he flatly said as he opened the refrigerator and smelled the gallon of milk. Satisfied that it was fresh enough, he put it back in and moved on to opening the crisper. "Has she eaten?"

"I don't know. I had to go to class today. She definitely didn't eat yesterday..."

"Okay," he closed the refrigerator and looked Jesse squarely in the eye for the first time. "You need to leave."

"What?"

He waved toward the door. "Go visit Terrence. I don't know why, but he probably misses you."

"I'm not leaving Jo." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry. I can't have you hovering like this if I'm gonna get her fed."

"I don't want to leave her with you..."

"Did she tell you what happened?"

Jesse shook her head and looked to him in anticipation of an answer to her questions.

"If she didn't tell you what happened, she has her reasons. I won't go against that, so don't ask for any explanations. If you want to get mad at me, that's understandable. Right now, how you feel bears no weight. You need to leave, now." Daniel turned his back on any plea Jesse might make. He pulled out the small pots and pans and got to work as he heard the girl pick up her keys.

"How long do you think you need to be alone here? I mean I know how you are, and... Just don't do anything..." 

Dan closed his eyes slowly, to keep from choosing a throwing implement. This was the same girl that set up that ambush at the shop He and took in a slow breath before answering, "I'll be here for as long as she needs."

"Well, I don't think..."

"Jesse, you've done enough damage, okay," he grumbled. "She needs to eat. She needs quiet. In all of the times I've seen you, you've never been quiet, ever. Can you honestly tell me that you would leave us alone if you stay?"

***

Jo let the shower run cold before she got the urge to get out. She shivered in the tub for a few minutes until she could get warm enough to grab her towel and huddle on the edge of the tub. She heard Jesse making noise in the kitchen. Jo sighed, 'I must have really scared the crap out of her, if she's trying to cook.' Jo couldn't remember the last time Jesse even boiled water. She lacked the desire to go out. It was too exhausting to even think about being nice to even Jesse. She knew this was wrong. Something in the pit of her stomach rolled around. She listened as the clanging continued. She was sort of hungry. She got up and slowly made her way to her room. Jo vetoed her body's idea of putting on a fresh night shirt and slipping back into bed. She pulled on a pair of jeans from the floor and her favorite baggy shirt. It wouldn't do to spend the entire day in pajamas. She paused at the door. 'What am I gonna say to her? She's gonna ask. She's the philosophy major, remember? She's gonna grill you like a ten dollar steak. No, you can't let him do this to you. You stood up. Stand up some more. What for? Did acting like some raving lunatic make you feel any better?' She caught herself in the mirror She barely recognized the sad girl looking back at her. 'Yeah, what for.' She opened the door and walked down the hall toward the kitchen. The warm scents of food hit her before she got around the corner. 'Jesse must have ordered out.' She peaked in to see the back of a man rummaging through the refrigerator. Before she could muster a smidgen of fear, he rose to turn back to the stove and smiled at her, "Good afternoon, beautiful." Dan casually said as he turned his back again and cleaned up the mess from his preparations.

She racked her brain to figure out why he would be in her apartment. "It's Wednesday?" She could barely hear herself. Instead of explaining things to Jesse, she'd resorted to silence. It had been so easy to ignore the prattling of her friend on the outside when she had the doubts rising up on the inside.

"No, it's Tuesday. I figured, you haven't had a good meal in a few days."

"I can cook," she said. Her unused voice cracked. She hunched her shoulders as he let her words hang unassisted as he continued to clean.

When he finally spoke, it was a slow low thing. "I know you can. Jesse didn't bring all of these pots with her. No double boiler, though. Dreadful," he sucked on his teeth.

"I didn't need one," she found herself replying.

He glanced up at her and said, "You don't need one until you need one."

She dropped into the nearest chair, and Daniel quickly set a plate in front of her. It was filled with a four egg omelet, four sausage patties, strawberries, and a sliced orange. He followed the plate quickly with a large glass filled nearly to the brim with orange juice.

"I'm not hungry," she tried to lie as her stomach gave her away. It wasn't a small quiet thing, either. It was a completely empty stomach rumble that lasted for a long time. She was desperately ravenous, but she didn't want him to know that. She couldn't understand why his presence made her feel warm and ashamed at the same time. 

"If that's too much for you, I can make you a fruit salad." He just stood there and watched her examine the plate. They both knew she wasn't going to eat it. "Look, you need to eat. You'll get sick if you don't."

"I can't. I..." She made the mistake of glancing up into his battered, worried face. His generally disheveled hair wasn't a shock. His rumpled clothes were the norm. She saw the marks across his face and breathed, "What happened to you?"

"Nothing." He brushed off as he sat down next to her and pointed to her plate. "Food in your stomach is more important."

"It doesn't matter," she pulled her arms to her ribs to prevent another abdominal growl. "What happened to you?"

"What? I can't hurt myself without..."

"No, you can't." Her eyes narrowed as she hesitantly raised a hand. He saw her do it and urged her on with his eyes. She examined the knuckle imprint across his cheek with light fingertips. "Somebody hit you. Why can't you tell the truth? If it was Gary..."

'Why do they always think its Gary?' He leaned in and sighed, "It wasn't Gary, though he may be good for it some other time. So, have you done any reading?"

She looked up at him in a sideways glance and dropped her hand to the table. He shied away from her silent criticism. He knew he'd done wrong by trying to change the subject. He wanted to apologize.

He seemed to be about to tell her something, but thought better of it. "I'll leave you to eat," was all he said.

The way that her lips pursed meant that she saw him stop himself. She was paying attention to him in that all encompassing way that he'd enjoyed when they were alone in the office together. He fought the urge to blurt out everything that happened over the course of two days. 'No, I want to detail every minute since you walked away from me. I want to talk until my voice goes. But, you can't deal with that, right now. I gotta wait until you'll listen.'

"Uh, okay." She picked up a forkful of omelet and paused.

Dan watched her. He knew she was only attempting this to appease him. She'd never admit that. The fork poked and prodded everything on the plate. She finally settled on taking a big drink of orange juice. When she set it down, he refilled it. She looked up at him and then back down at the still full plate. She would never finish the whole thing. He reached out a hand, took an orange slice, and made quick work of it. She settled into her seat. 'Well, maybe, I can get him to eat half of this.'

She put a forkful of omelet into her mouth. "This is great," she said as she chewed. "I didn't know I had bell peppers."

"You didn't," he smirked as he took a bite out of a sausage patty.

"So, how much do I owe you for the shopping?"

He considered the question and said, "Let's not think about that. Besides, you're not the only one eating here."

He watched her eat for a bit, then put a hand to her shoulder. "See, that wasn't so hard. You don't have to fight me. Later, I'll download the lecture notes for you, and I'll try to help you."

"No, I think I'm done." She pushed the plate away and got up. The thought of spending the day with him was more than she thought she deserved.

"Are you sure? You barely ate anything. I can make you something lighter..."

"That's okay. I think I'll go back to bed, now." 'He's done his good deed. Now, he can go.'

"I'll be waiting for you when you wake up, then."

'What?' "That's not necessary," she smiled at him in an effort to make him think she was all better.

He raised up slowly and stretched his legs. "No, it's not, but you'd sleep the day through if I left, wouldn't you?"

Daniel wasn't going to give her an out. He knew they were both nervous about each other, but she needed someone to listen. He watched her walk into the living room. She searched around the couch, picked up the remote and turned on the television.

"Hey," he caught her attention before she could find a good channel to hide in. 'Tell me what you need.'

Joanne let him stand there. She sat down, pulled her legs under herself, and hid in the concentration on a useless commercial. Dan positioned himself on the floor next to her. They sat that way for nearly three hours. He waited and watched her response to the shows, and she tried to be cheerful, so that he would let her go back to sleep. 

Jo needed to go to the bathroom, but she didn't want to change the dynamic. He wasn't judging. It was a major step up from what Jesse had done nearly every waking moment for the past three years. The natural light from outside waned as she made the decision to just go pee. He moved slightly to let her pass, but kept his eyes on the TV. She found herself trying to be quiet as she relieved the pressure on her bladder.

'What does he care if I make noise when I pee? I am really nuts.' She let the rest of her urine go at its own speed, flushed the toilet, washed her hands and went back out to sit with him. 'Is it with someone, if one of you is on the floor?' She stood next to him for a second then lay across the couch so that their heads were nearly together. He didn't turn to look at her. With the TV droning and the mutual silence, her thoughts started to wander. 'What if I didn't know about Candy. Would he be here right now? Would we have had sex by now? What kind of noise would he make with me? He doesn't really make any extra noises. Would he still smell this good to me...'

Dan shivered as the fingers trailed slowly across his scalp. He turned to see her pull the hand back in and roll away in her sleep. 'She probably doesn't know she did that.' He leaned in close to her ear and spoke to her, "Angel."

"Hmm?"

"I never was into sleep, so I wallowed in the pain. It actually made me feel better to be tired or angry. But, that's not who you are," she heard very close to her ear. She must have fallen asleep, because the room was almost black. She barely made him out in the gloom.

'Am I dreaming this? No, he's still here. You're awake.' "It isn't?"

"You're more of the 'I'll go to bed and wake up to a different day' type. The problem with that is you can't sleep forever. You have to get up and face that day."

He looked over to her now open eyes and moved so that she could feel his breath on her lips. "You did the same thing with me, didn't you? Still do. " He came close to her lips as he spoke, "It's not part of the package deal." She pressed her eyes shut and tried to figure out what to say. 

"Uh, package deal?" She moved off and tried to focus on the TV.

"Look at me."

She didn't want to, but his words were so firm. He'd tilted his head so that their eyes were together. "What's so wrong with looking me in the eye? You close your eyes and open them again because you don't want to see me looking at you?"

He was just too close. She closed her eyes again and felt him cover her lips with his. His warm lips coaxed her lips open, then he moved away.

"Tell me," he watched her eyes open. "The next time you shut me out, I'm gonna call you on it."

'Should I just tell him my chest hurts every time he looks at me? It shouldn't, but it does. How can I feel like this when he used me?' "You..." 'No lie in the world will get you out of this. Bad liar, remember? Be straight with him.' "I don't like how you look at me. It's like... You want too much, okay?" 'And you just kissed me! What the hell was that?'

"I want the entire package, Jo. All of it. Not just the little bit of wrapping paper you set aside for other people. I want you to see that every time I look at you. That's what I've wanted all along."

He rested his arm on the couch in front of her and put his hand to her ear. He returned his lips to hers and cooed, "How about we try to talk like we used to?"

'Like we used to,' ran through her head a few times. 'Like before I found out about Candy. Candy. She probably thinks you're studying somewhere while you're kissing me.' She raised up to break the kiss and said, "I can't do that."

"You can. You can sit there and talk to me, because I'm here to listen."

"I think I should be talking to Gary, right now. I mean, he's ... He and I..." She still wasn't sure what they were to each other, but she knew that she had to make Daniel back off. Jerry had to have said terrible things about her. He could have said anything. She didn't want to have to talk at all.

"Oh, okay." Jo watched his jaw firm up. "So, you told him what happened at the shop?"

"No," she pulled her legs to her chest. "I don't know if I will. Maybe, when he gets back, we'll talk."

He scanned the room to gather his thoughts. He wanted to swear or throw something, but that wouldn't serve any purpose. When he was ready, he turned back, and quietly said, "I'm here. I know the whole story. You can talk to me, now."

He watched her turn to the TV. "There's nothing to tell."

He reached over with a long arm and shut off the TV. "There's a lot to tell."

"I won't say what you want to hear." Jo rested her chin on her knees.

"How do you know what I want to hear?" He caught her gaze as he got off of the floor. His legs were cramping up from the curve they had to do to fit between the couch and the TV stand.

She scoffed, "You want me to tell you what happened. Probably want me to cry, don't you? I won't do that. You won't get that out of me. It's off limits to you." 'I can't do that. You're disappointed enough, for now.' Jo wanted to detach herself from his obvious concern. She was fine with it, really. Three counselors and numerous group sessions said so. 'So, I'm over it. Especially since I got to tell him off.'

"Can we please stop playing the I hate Dan game and just tell me...?" He closed in on her and sat with his thigh touching her feet.

"There's no game, and I don't hate you. That doesn't mean I'll say anything. Move back," she said as her hand went to his arm. He put his fingers over hers. 'Stop touching me. I can't have it.' It was as though Dan had forgotten he didn't want her. His closeness only made it hard to think.

"No. Are you done?"

She looked away from him. 'I wish I was done with you.'

"I know what happened, because he told me, okay? Back then, he told me. I didn't understand. I do, now. But, I need to hear it from you."

Jo eyed him with a frown as he leaned close to her.

"I'm the same person that held you and told it would be okay. I need this to be out in the open. It's me you're talking to, Joanne... " 

'Out in the open?' "I know exactly who I'm talking to," her voice rose but she pulled it back to the controlled crisp tone she used for school. "I'm talking to the man that said such great stuff to me. The last time I listened to him, I got burned big time. Why would I say shit to him?"

Dan sighed and moved back to the other end of the couch, "Because." She was on the offensive, now. He braced himself for the onslaught, but smiled anyway. 'I loved the way she scrunched up her nose when she said that. She really can't swear with out screwing up her face.' She'd had time to fume for over a month. He knew he deserved every single sexy little pointed finger and every word from those frowning lips.

"Because, why? All you had to do was be straight with me. I thought there was something seriously wrong with you, because of the way you were acting. I thought, you were some stalker, or something. Now, I know it was all some sort of plan. You had to meet some sort of timetable you had in your head. I guess, I foiled that plan by not being some hoochy like maybe Jerry said I was. Once you figured I wouldn't do you, why did you bother to keep after me? You should have just gone Back to Candy where you belong. You took her side so many times. You here right now is wrong. You should just live with your choice. Stop making this hard for me. Nobody asked you to come over here. You have this thing for Candy, great! That means I shouldn't have to deal with you in my face when I'm trying to be alone. You have no right to know anything about me. You're not supposed to make me feel better any more. We're not together. We never will be. Don't confuse things."

He scratched the back of his head. "I'm not confusing things. You're the one jumping to conclusions..."

"Who were you with at the concert? It sure as hell wasn't me. Who's breasts were pressed up against your head like a helmet? Who..."

He broke her chain of thought. "Who were you with at the concert? Why do you hang on to Gary like you do?"

"I don't hang onto Gary. I've gone out with him a few times. He takes me places. You know? Places out in the open where everyone can see who he's with."

'Ow!' He mumbled, "We've gone somewhere."

"Yeah, to the shop where you're Dad pretty much insulted me every chance he got. He wants you with Candy, too."

"He doesn't matter. He'll get used to it. I told you, before. I don't want to date you..."

"That's right. You don't want to date me. You want to fuck me."

He pulled in a deep breath. "Jo..." He needed time to think, and this was definitely not the time for a pause. She'd used the word as a blade across his gut.

"Let's be real, here. That's all this is. You didn't have to put in that much work. You could have probably gotten some a while back. You could have taken it. I don't fight. Better yet," she got up and growled, "you could have had Jesse and Candy on the same night. You know, I'm glad I wasn't what you wanted, anyway. Well, I don't plan on doing you any time soon, so you'll have to get your jollies somewhere else." She stormed out of the room. She'd wanted to make him feel as bad as she felt, but it didn't make her feel any better. Her legs carried her into the kitchen instead of to her room. She'd trapped herself with one way out. 'Oh, no.' She glanced to her right and saw him looking at her from the couch. She ducked her head as she turned and put her hands on the edge of the sink.




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 11



"Joanne..." He got up and followed her. "I'm not gonna lie and say that I don't want you. I want you anywhere, at anytime of the day or night. You don't want to try me on that score, honey." He raised himself in the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. He was too tired to continue with peace keeping. She was going to listen if it took him all night. "But, I wanted you to know the truth first, so you knew what you were getting into. Did it ever occur to you that I wanted to talk to you all of those times because you should have heard the full story from me instead of your" 'Bitch of a friend' "...Jesse?"

"What are you doing," she faltered.

He knew he seemed intimidating, in that stance, but at least he had a captive audience. "I wanted to take you places. I still do, but I wake up at the crack of dawn and you don't. Honestly, I can't stay up much past 11."

"But, all of those nights..."

"I took a little nap before I went to see you, then went to sleep for another couple of hours after I made sure you were going home."

'You did?' Jo heard a sappy version of herself purr. She shook it off. 'Remember, this is what he did before. He was all sweetness until Jesse busted him out. There's still Candy.' "That's just stupid. I'd've picked the uninterrupted sleep."

"Well, you're not me, are you? I'm an idiot, and I let my heart run off with me. You. You're in control."

'Usually,' she sighed.

"You tired?"

"No, I'm fine," she squared up her shoulders.

"Good. This may take a bit, so..." He gestured at the chair nearest her.

He watched her look at the low wall that divided the kitchen from the living room. 'She's not gonna try to jump that, is she?' She sat down sideways in the chair and stared at the faucet on the kitchen sink so that she couldn't see his face as he sat down across from her. By her crossed arms and hunched demeanor, she was on her way to shutting down. He would have to be brief.

Daniel pulled in a big breath, focused on his fingers on the table, and started to finally tell the truth, "Candy cheated on me. That's why I broke things off. I didn't leave her at the alter. I hadn't gotten my tux or anything, yet." He watched Joanne's body turn slightly toward him out of the corner of his eye. "Candy and I ... We were good friends. I thought I loved her, and she loved me. I did stupid things, because she wanted me to. She wanted a threesome, so I did it. She liked bondage, so I did that, too. I can honestly say that there were some good things I learned from it. But, it didn't outweigh the fact that I didn't want to live like that. I wanted to be with just her. I told her the extra people weren't for me. She told me she was pregnant. I thought getting married was the natural progression from that. Three years ago, I asked Candace to marry me. She said yes, and things were great for about a month. Then, I saw her at a club talking to Jerry. His hands were where they shouldn't have been. I brushed it off. I figured, they knew each other a long time, and Jerry was like that. Then, there were calls that I couldn't answer. I figured it was a surprise for the wedding. She wouldn't come home, then blame it on work. Catching her in bed with the strippers was the last straw. I went back home that night. She called me a couple weeks later and told me she'd gotten an abortion." He looked up to see Jo leaning over the table and looking directly at him. Dan saw the pain that he once felt reflected in her eyes. "I went over to her house. We got into this fight over our baby. She didn't tell me it wasn't mine for another week. She let me hang with the thought of losing a child..." Dan shook off the anger. 'This isn't supposed to still hurt.' "...for an entire week."

Joanne watched him think. There'd been no sugar coating to a single word. His scowl intensified. "So, I went to visit my cousins in France for the summer. A summer turned into two years. When I got back to town, I didn't try to look for her. I had nothing left to say. She didn't look for me, so....I thought it was officially over. I decided to go back to school. It worked out pretty good. I didn't think about her. I didn't think much of women at all. It was like a part of me died."

He looked up, "Then, I saw you." 'And I came back to life.'

"Any questions," he quipped to defuse the heavy silence. He hated the sensation that washed over him. Joanne didn't deserve this. She just sat there with her lips pressed together. 'God, you're beautiful.' He tried to soften his face, but he felt it doing the opposite. He put his face in his hands and let out a big breath.

"Why didn't you just say something," made his ears prick up.

He glanced up at her through his hands, "What was I supposed to say? 'My ex is a whore, so you shouldn't worry about her showing up everywhere?' That would have made you worry, right?" He leaned back in to his hands. "I didn't want to say anything. I get embarrassed just thinking about it. It took me a long time to get over what she did. I didn't want it to be important, anymore. Not with you."

"Danny..." She couldn't come up with anything that would change the pain he showed her. 'He must have thought if he told me, I wouldn't want him. Stupid ass. No. No, that's cruel. I've been in knots for months because he was too stupid to... ' "Ow," he gripped the top of his head. '...tell me up front!' She'd tapped him with her knuckles a little too hard. It was supposed to be a light rap to get his attention. She put her hand on his scruffy face and let her fingers trace his earlobe.

"I'm not that special. You should have just said something, you idiot." 'I shouldn't be mad. He's free. He's really not with her, but I'm still mad. Why couldn't he just say it?' She got mad at herself, 'The same reason you just started a fight to avoid telling him.'

"I told you mine," he closed his eyes and took her hand from his face. "Ball's in your court."

She looked away from him and pulled her arms in close to her body so that her hands rested on the edge of the table. "I don't feel like telling the whole thing. Tell me what you know. I'll try to fill in the blanks."

"Okay. Jerry and I were at prep school together until I left. I wrote this song. It was a good song, but I wasn't at prep anymore. I sent it to Jerry. He practiced it over the summer... It was maybe 3, no, 4 years ago. That's when it happened. You probably watched him play. You said you liked to watch me play."

"We all watched," she whispered. "It wasn't just me."

"I know. He played the album before it came out. I was supposed to be at that party, but Pop had some things he needed me to do. Who knows. I might have met you that night under other circumstances."

Joanne looked at her knees as he took a deep breath and continued. "Everyone went out on the dock while you went to the bathroom. When you came back, it was just you and Jer alone."

"And, his dog. We sat there on the floor petting his dog..." Her words lacked emotion. "So, we weren't alone," her eyes bore into him for a moment. She considered telling him the whole thing for a second, but it didn't matter anymore. She felt the coldness flow over her back as she spoke to him. "We laughed about how all of the adults were talking about him, and... He kissed me. I didn't think much of it, because he'd done it before. It was just an innocent kiss. It wasn't even long or good, really. I remember laughing when he said he'd fuck me right there on the floor."

Joanne covered her mouth with her hand and blinked at the table. They sat there in silence until she said, "It's not like I think about it all the time."

A set of keys in the lock made them both straighten up. Jo ran a hand over her hair and glanced over her shoulder to meet Jesse's eyes as she entered the room.

Jesse dropped her coat on a chair and said to both of them, "So, are we cool, now?"

"She's eaten," Dan gruffly said as he got up. "I've set up a fruit salad, there's cereal in the cabinet for breakfast, and there are pork chops marinating in the fridge." Joanne saw his face change, but she wasn't sure what to expect. He turned away so quickly.

"Well," Jesse watched him collect his books and put them in his bag. "Where you going? You don't have to leave on my account."

"I left a copy of Dr. S's notes on the coffee table, Jo. I've got to get back to the shop," he said as he pulled on his coat. He arranged his coat before opening the door. 'Gotta get outta here, now, before I promise to kill him.'

He was going to just leave after she said that. Jo followed him and reached out to touch his hand, "Dan, won't you stay for dinner?"

For a few seconds, he frowned down at her. She was offering a little bit of her time, but he didn't want a little bit. He wanted all of it to finish the conversation. He knew he wouldn't be able to sit at the table and make small talk. He bent down and kissed her cheek, "Maybe, some other time. Call me when you talk to Gary?"

'Gary.' She let go of his hand. What the hell was she supposed to do about Gary?

"I've been making sure I give you your space at work, so this won't be a problem. Let me know when you want to talk," with that low voice only for her.



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 12



- -Hey, bay. It's your dad. We'll be coming down to visit.- - 

Joanne looked down at the answering machine in confusion as she got ready for class. The parents hadn't come to visit her since she was at the dorms. Something was up or they had another reason for being in the area.

- - I thought I'd call and tell you. We'll be there to visit an old friend, so don't expect us to crowd you. Or, I won't anyway. You're mama's still worried bought you, though. You sounded a bit down, last night. Better put on a happy face, or she'll be on you.- -

"I bet she would," she sighed at the machine as she dawned her coat and sat on the arm of the couch. She had tried to sound cheerful, but it just came off as overly enthusiastic.

- - Just leave Friday night open for us to take you out to dinner. You should still have that dress we bought for New Years, right? I made the reservation for that French place my friend recommended. We'll see you soon.- -The machine said the time of the message and beeped for the next one.

'Wonderful,' she thought, 'I get to dress up pretty for the folks. I better drop my stuff at the cleaners today.' It wasn't as though she had anything special planned for the weekend, anyway. She looked forward to it really, because it was a chance to be somebody else for the night.

- -Jojo, you haven't returned my calls. I wanted to see my girl. - - 'Gary. Great.'

Jo mouthed, "my girl," as she put her coffee in the sink. It was bad coffee. Jesse had done the shopping without her and bought some strange flavored blend. She'd managed to drain it because Jesse said it would make her feel better. For the past few weeks, it had done nothing. She knew she'd either have to get used to the taste of coffee, or get over this funk that had passed over her. She regretted what she'd said to Danny. He'd been even more distant ever since. 'I shouldn't have told him anything.'

- -Give me a call.- - Gary had sounded worried.

Joanne hit the erase button and picked up her bag. After the whole dress thing, she'd been worried when he didn't call her to say he'd gotten home okay. Then, when he didn't call her back after her run-in with Jerry, she was resentful. Now, she didn't even care if he called. She looked out of the window. It didn't look like February at all. The sun was bright and people were walking down the sidewalk. If they weren't bundled up from the cold, she would have thought it was closer to April. She knew she should cut Gary loose before it got into February, but he didn't call on Valentine's Day. She figured he was done with her, so she didn't bother to clarify things. She picked up the phone to dial his number but hung up. She couldn't do it.

'What am I gonna say? I'd rather rip my fingernails out with rusty pliers than call him. Why do I care about what he thinks? He doesn't.' 

She looked back toward the window. The wind whipped through the bare trees and made the twigs flutter in a pattern. The sight of Daniel's dark hair moving around his face came to her. Before she drifted off to sleep, his voice would fill her head. Her mind had started to run away with her in the daylight, now. She tried to shake him out of her brain, as she grabbed her keys. At school, Daniel would look at her with curiosity, but wouldn't approach. When she would try to talk to him, he wouldn't respond. Joanne stopped trying after the first few attempts. Her feelings were too raw, and he didn't seem to want to talk to her anyway.

At work, Dr. Samuels said they were the best team he'd ever had, because they worked like a well oiled machine. He even asked Jo if she was serious about considering graduate school. That may have been the main reason why Dr. S made out the new schedule the way that he did. When Dan was drawn into the conversation about Jo's future, he would decline the incentive to urge her to stay on. 'He was too busy working on his thesis to worry about some undergrad's problems.'

She opened her door and made sure she had her gloves. 'Hell, let 'em both go. You can get back to being yourself by yourself.'

*

Joanne got to class early and busied herself with her note cards. The mechanisms had to be perfect or she wouldn't do well on the exams. Dr. Samuels never gave any hints as to what would be on his mid-terms, so anything he'd ever mentioned was fair game. She was just about to re-read her notes when she caught a flash of green in front of her. She looked up at Daniel's army green shirt. She looked away. 'Is today the day he'll finally talk to me? He has to. It's only right.' 

She got up and walked down to the front of the room, anyway. She figured, he might have seen the new work schedule. Dr. Samuel's had pretty much given her a duplicate of Dan's times. She wanted to see if he had a preference for certain days, so that she could give him his choice of new partners.

He looked up and snapped, "Whatever it is, it's not worth my time. Go bother, Reggie or Padha."

She froze. He'd looked her right in the eye and done that. She continued to look at him as he returned his focus to scribbles on a sheet of paper. He hadn't even wanted to find out what she wanted. She turned and went over to Padha as the room filled.


*

'Man, what is wrong with you? Why can't you just be normal to her?'

Dan watched her speak quietly with Padha. He wanted to apologize, but if he couldn't talk to her, 'How can I say I'm sorry?' He hadn't looked up until he was halfway through the first sentence. Then the words just spilled out of his mouth against his will. He figured it was better than babbling a series of platitudes about how her eyes and lips made his blood boil. It was definitely inappropriate to say something like that in a public classroom. He watched her face soften as she made notations in her book. She nodded and returned to her seat without looking at him. The old Joanne would have at least said something to him after he'd been that rude. She'd do that to a complete stranger. He'd seen her do it. He'd hoped she would call him on his attitude, but she didn't. She just turned away as if he'd just said nothing. 'Oh, well. We'll have time to talk later.'

*

Jo pulled out her planner and swiftly traded any days and times that corresponded to a time that Dan would be in the office. The dates Padha couldn't cover were easily given to Reggie. 'If he doesn't see me, we don't have any problems. Not anymore.' She wrote down the changes on a slip of paper and gave them to Dr. Samuels without a word. She wanted to yell at Daniel, but, 'What good would that do? I was the one that got my hopes up. This whole thing is stupid,' she scolded herself. She ran to the nearest bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. 'Don't you dare cry. He weaseled whatever he wanted out of you. Now I'm not even worth common decency? I can't walk into that anymore. I'm worth more than that. If I never see that man again, it will be too soon.'

***

As he worked the lunch rush, Dan was a literal mess. He'd gotten this pushy lady right in the faux fur ruff when he'd knocked into the counter with his tray. He didn't care that the woman sounded like a cawing crow right in his face. He couldn't do much but mutter a weak apology and retreat to the kitchen. His thoughts were still in Biochem, where he'd screwed up. Dr. S had made a note in his planner and simply handed the sheet of paper off to Dan. She'd switched every single day they had together. He'd asked specifically for those days and she gave them all away. Maybe, he'd been a little too harsh with her this past week. 'But, she never said a word. She just gave up. How's a guy supposed to know when he's being stupid?' When he figured out what she'd done, he tried calling her place. Jesse hung up on him more times than he'd like to admit before he got only the answering machine.

"Ok, I know I've been a jerk. I admit that. But, that doesn't mean we can't work together. I wanted those days so that we could talk," he shook his head out of frustration. "I need to talk to you. I should have talked to you. Please, Jo? Call me back." As he hung up, he knew she'd never get the message. 'Jesse's hitting erase right this second.'

A commotion out on the floor pulled him from his thoughts. A loud crash and his father's yell made him rush out of the kitchen to confront whoever it was. He paused in mid-stride. There was a massive black man crushing his father to death. The odd bit turned out to be that his father was actually happy about it.

"Oh, Danny! I forgot to tell you that Jimmy was coming to visit me. He and his wife are in town and I thought that you'd go to dinner..."

"I sure as hell won't," he grunted as he turned to go back into the kitchen. He heard his father follow him.

"It's just a dinner," came from inches to his left. "You be nice to them, and I won't say anything else about the girl."

"The girl?" 'You know damn well, what her name is.' It was killing him to see Jo so often, without being able to show her how he really felt, but he didn't want to mess things up. It turned out he'd done just that by keeping silent. 'She probably does think I suck. Why couldn't she give me another day or two? I mean, she can't even be in the same office when I'm there?'

"Joanne," David said to get Danny's attention. "The girl. The one you want over Candace."

"Do you see Joanne around here, lately?"

Dan must have been too loud. David's eyebrows raised as he said, "No, I don't see her... or Candace. Not since the day she came here. I know I was wrong. I can't take what happened back. It's just dinner. You can go on being moody, later. I'll even give you money for that keyboard you were looking at in the catalog." Danny didn't quite listen. Pop was going to buy him a keyboard? This was serious. Since Dan bought into the business, he'd been able to afford what he wanted. His father hadn't bought him anything other than birthday gifts since he turned eighteen. "This is important, Danny. I haven't seen these people since you were a little boy. They are expecting a smart talented man with sense enough to behave politely in company. How would it look if I had to make excuses for my own son. I thought you might be up to hear some stories about your mother. She'd know what to say right now. I'll have to apologize as it is to Jimmy..."

'And you brought up Mom?' "Look," Dan sighed in submission to the guilt trip his father was just gearing up to give, "Pop. I'll go to your thing and play the good son. Just don't expect me to be happy about it."

***

Joanne had actually had a good day. There was no sign of Daniel since she changed her schedule, and she even had a civil conversation with Jesse. Tonight would be the jewel in the crown. Her parents called and they would be coming to get her to go to dinner on time. She got to her door and sighed. She'd gotten up the stairs with her dress neatly folded and balanced over her arm, 'with hopefully no creases.' She knew how her mother would look, and she made sure to get her dress professionally pressed. She got a new pair of shoes and a set of earrings to match. She even endured the soft rollers, stashed under an oversized baseball cap, for the entire day. It obliterated her budget, but it wouldn't do for her to look bad next to her parents. 'All of this aggravation. They know that I only do this for them.' She shoved her keys into the lock and the door swung open before she could turn the knob.

"Where have you been?" Gary smiled at her surprise.

"What are you doing here," slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Your friend said I could wait here for you, since you've been too busy to answer the phone," he frowned at her.

She didn't want this to happen. She deliberately put her dress and shoes on the couch and crossed her arms. 'That is it. When this lease is over, I am so out of here. Jesse let Gary stay in my apartment without my permission, she barely stays here, anyway, and she cheats on Terrence in front of me. She knows I can't lie to save my life, but she puts me in this situation anyway. Jesse doesn't give a damn about me at all, does she? I talked to her about Gary, before. I made it clear that it was over, didn't I? Well, maybe not that clear. If I could afford it, she would have been gone a long, long, long, time ago. I thought she cared about me. She is such a bitch! I wanted to have a friend, but if this is what it takes to have one, I so don't need one.'

She turned away from him so that he couldn't see her lie. "I was really busy with work and all. What do you want?"

"I heard your parent's were in town. I figured you'd want us to meet some time. Now is as good a time as any."

'Meet my parents? Boy, please! You must be outta yo mind!' "Well, I'm going out to dinner with them, so now isn't a good time."

"I'll just come with you."

"I don't think that's a good idea," she frowned at his sweatshirt and jeans. "We're supposed to be going somewhere fancy."

"You don't want me to meet them, do you?" He cocked his head to the side and laughed, "And, here I thought I was a catch."

"Gary," she shook her head at him, "we haven't talked for nearly a month. That should tell you something."

He backed away from her. "I told you I needed to spend some time with my family. I thought we were clear on that before I left."

"We were clear. You and I don't really have much to say, okay? I can see your eyes glaze over when I start to talk about things I like. And, I didn't think that it would take three weeks without even a phone call. I left you messages. I figured, you'd call to see how I was. You didn't. That tells me all I need to know. "

"You mentioned me not calling, so my family does have something to do with it," he smiled at her and took her hand. "I thought we were gonna give this another shot."

She protested, "I think three strikes and you're out."

"They weren't even my strikes. Shit! The jerk showed up and ruined the first date. The second one was perfect until the crazy bitch came in and did what I was thinking of doing. Where's the third one, huh?"

"I needed you and you didn't bother to call me back," she stared right back at him. She watched him grind his jaw as he thought.

He finally came back with, "I don't get you. If you didn't want me from the get go, why didn't you just say no?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I can't say no. That's my problem. Even when I know that's what I should say. Well, I'm saying it now. I tried to get to know you better, Gary. I really did. I just can't do it."

"Or, maybe you didn't want to," he dropped her hand and picked up his coat. "Look, I'll call you, later."

She knew it was a lie. The way that he'd said it, she thought she wouldn't hear a word from him again. 'Maybe, just maybe he's right. Maybe I didn't want to like him. Maybe, it was the same thing with Daniel. He kinda forced his way in there at the beginning. I didn't encourage either one of them, did I? LIAR! I made them feel good, somehow. I don't know how I did that, but I need to figure it out.' She watched him walk down the stairs. It was time to get dressed, anyway. She got her dress out of the plastic film and held it up. It was a gray-black cocktail dress with red trim. The lines of color made it look as though she were dancing when she glanced at herself in the mirror. She ran her hand over the bodice and swirled the skirt. She made her curls bounce around her face as she applied her lipstick. So, the curls were a bit tight and it made her look more fun than sophisticated. The dress definitely screamed sophisticated. She admired the small red crystals dangling from their mounts before she put them around her neck. The matching earrings were a bit of a struggle, because she didn't wear earrings everyday. She smiled at her reflection as she cleaned the sink. She cleaned up pretty nice.

'Yeah, that smile is the one to keep on your face. Just make Mom and Dad happy, so you can go back to being left alone. Today was so good, too.'

She waited on the couch and flipped through one of the textbooks she'd bought but never opened. Some instructors never tell you they won't be using the book except for two days at the beginning of the semester. She had accumulated several interesting titles that she would flip through to be sharp for graduate entrance exams. 'I don't know why I never got money back for these.' A tap came to the door and she answered it.

Gary walked in past her and said, "You look gorgeous. But then again, you rock them jeans every time I see you."

He'd changed into slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie. He offered her a single red rose wrapped in plastic and made himself comfortable on her couch.

"Gary..." She wasn't sure what she should say. 'Didn't you just leave?'

"Aren't you gonna put that in water? It took me a bit to find one so big. I figured, I could feel your parents out about my coming along. Besides, it's a fancy restaurant, what experience do you have with that stuff? I could go to be moral support."

She thrust the flower toward him. "You obviously haven't listened to a word I've said to you since we met. This," she cast a hand across her dress, "is what I do when I'm not in school. We pick out big fancy places to go, and we eat. I've been doing this since I was six years old. I think I told you about that while we were walking through the park, if I'm not mistaken. And maybe, again on the way to the concert. You weren't listening, then. You weren't listening half an hour ago. I don't want you to meet my parents. Okay? We're not like that. Right now, I don't see what I ever saw in you." 'Girl, was that just you that said that? So much for trying to be pleasant to everybody.' She looked at Gary to gauge his response to what she'd said, but he wasn't showing much. She was getting a bit more irritated with him.

A loud rap came to the door. She motioned to Gary to stay there and opened the door for her father. She greeted him with an enthusiastic hug. At a very healthy 6 foot 3, he was an impressive man on any day, but today he was at the top of his game. The white shirt flashed through the neck of his tuxedo jacket with brilliance. His cufflinks, diamond shape onyx, with a patterned C carved in them, set off the deep black of the tuxedo. He smiled brightly at his daughter, "You look wonderful, bay. You never do disappoint, do you?"

"Aw. You have to say that!"

"No, I don't. I may be your dad, but I'd tell you if you were ugly."

They laughed. She knew it was the truth. If anything, her father was the most honest person she knew. Perhaps, that is why she was never much of a convincing liar, herself. She looked back at Gary and grudgingly introduced him, "Dad, this is Gary. Gary, my father, James Croix."

"A pleasure to meet you, sir." Her father took Gary's hand briefly and looked him up and down.

"Sir? Now, what's going on here, bay?"

"He's being nice. People can be nice," she turned away from him and gathered her dress coat and purse from the counter where she'd left them.

"Actually," Gary did an excellent job of getting to his point, "I heard you were in town and thought it would be a good idea if we met. Your daughter is a special girl, and I've been trying to get to know her better."

"Uh, huh," James' low voice bottomed out. "Well, we don't have much time. We're to meet up with friends at the restaurant. Maybe, the next time we come to visit, we can have a chat."

"Sure," Gary smiled. "We'll get to meet the next time you're in town."

Jo nodded her appreciation at her father's diplomacy. 

He returned with an amused frown, "That's if you last that long. I can honestly say that my daughter has never spoken of anyone worth marrying, yet. That should be the only reason that you'd meet a girl's family." Her thought's of getting out without a scene dashed, she gave her father a disapproving frown and put on her coat.




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 12



"It was nice talking to you..." He paused to emphasize that he'd just learned the name. "Gary. I was sent up to hurry my daughter along. The reservation was for seven and it's... 6:15 as it is."

"I'm ready to go. What's she wearing," Jo asked about her mother.

James gave her a knowing wink and said, "It's just a simple black dress with a string of pearls. I think she's trying to tone it down tonight. Maybe, we want to show off our beautiful daughter for a change?"

Joanne felt her cheeks warm as she headed for the door. Gary followed them down the stairs and out to the car.

Almost as an afterthought, James acknowledged Gary again, "It was nice meeting you, son." This was the obvious cue for Gary to leave, but he just stood there as Joanne got into her parents car. She looked back at him as he watched her father settle into the driver's seat.

As they drove from the curb, Gary finally turned away.

"Not too bright, that one," James said when they were far down the street. "Was that one of the dogs you were talking about?"

"Jimmy," Karen chided. "She might like him. Do you? Please, say you don't."

"Gary and I..." She struggled to think of a nice thing to say then gave up. "There is no Gary. We went out a few times. I just couldn't be so interested in him." '...since he wasn't that interested in me.'

"I could swear he's not you're type," her mother said as she checked her makeup.

Jo couldn't help but to dig, "You guys thought I was gay. What do you think my type is?"

"I think your type wouldn't know what to do with you, sweetheart. He'd be so dazzled by you that he'd never speak. And when he did, it would be in mumbles or monosyllabic grunts," Karen smiled back at her.

'So much for Mom's judgment of men.' "Yeah, so I'd never meet him. What good is that?"

"Let's just say, if you see a young man walk by you dripping water all the way. Stop him and say hello," her mother smiled at the side of her father's head.

"Ah, now," James murmured. "You didn't talk to me until the next day."

"Well, you were dripping water all over my books. I figured you'd be dry by then."

*

When they got to the restaurant, the host said in a low volume welcome, "We have your guests at table."

As she walked next to her mother, she asked, "Guests. I thought Dad said he had a friend. Singular."

"Yes, and his young friend."

"Mother!" Jo pulled her aside and grumbled, "I don't want to meet some guy you want to fix me up with."

"That's not why you're here. He didn't want to leave the boy at home, and you were coming... What are we supposed to do? There's no place to hide, so you should be polite and try not to slouch like that," Karen said with her perfectly timed frown. 

In the back of her head, she had known Karen would do this to her. Now that her mother knew she wasn't gay, she'd be going on these dinners often. 'I should have told her I was a lesbian.' "If this is some guy you think..." The words caught in her throat as she ducked behind her father. 

David Langier stood up to greet them.



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 13



David Langier stood up to greet them.  Joanne Croix thought as she crouched behind her father, 'Why would he be here? Does he want to set me up again? I can't deal with that. Is Jerry here?'

*

David scowled at his son. "Sit up straight. You want to try to make a good impression on them."

Daniel grumbled, "The only time you care about my posture is when...This better not be some sorta..."

"Jimmy!" David stood and urged Daniel to do the same. Out of defiance, Dan crossed his arms and stayed planted in his seat. 'No way am I meeting whatever misfortunate cow he has planned for me to meet.' "This is my son, Daniel. Boy, this is James, his wife, Karen, and their daughter..."

His father hadn't completed the sentence. Dan glanced up briefly at the parents and nodded with his full aggravation. That is, until he caught a glimpse of her down turned face before she disappeared behind her father. All he could do was stand up and breathe, "Uh, Joanne?" He'd sprang up so fast, his chair tipped back, but he didn't notice David catch it and set it upright.

"I thought he didn't have an accent anymore," James smiled.

"He doesn't. His English is probably better than yours," David laughed.

"Oh," Karen smiled at Jo. "So, you've met before. Good." Her mother was trying to keep up with the charade, which was obviously to make them think the parents didn't know anything..

Daniel made an effort to speak, but his father told him in crisp French, "Close your mouth. Tonight, you have no say in this matter. You will sit down and act as though you have sense. I told you I'd make up for what happened. Here's your chance."

"What was that, Dave? My French is kind of rusty, now," James chuckled. Karen gave him a nudge with her elbow and pointed Joanne to her seat. "But, I'm sure he was telling him to behave."

Daniel watched Jo glide across to the seat opposite him. She didn't look up. Not even for the instant that she settled in her chair, did she look toward him. As he quickly sat down, he could see her miraculous blush, though her skin color never changed. He couldn't believe this was happening. She sat there so close to him. When she finally did look up, he tried to turn away, but there was something about the way that she pursed her lips. Those full red lips parted slightly as she waited for him to turn away.

"You are correct. He has had trouble talking before he thinks. We should tell them the story. Perhaps, it would give him time to say something worth hearing," David's words were sharply directed at his stunned child.

Joanne tried not to panic. 'This is not happening. What is that man talking about?  Why is Dan looking at me like this is my fault? He didn't yell at me, this time. I didn't know about this. Did he? Is that why he didn't talk to me all week?'

"I guess," James started, "You see, we and David knew each other about twenty years ago. At one point, I thought he'd steal my Karen from me, but it turned out he just wanted to find out about her friend, Frankie. That's Danny's mom. We were friends; the Langiers, Croixes, and Carters. So were you kids. All four of you."

David leaned in and smiled, "I would say the boys were inseparable." Joanne's mouth dropped open. 'Four? The old man smiled and it looked like he meant it.' She looked to Daniel, to see if he saw it too, but he busied himself with slicing at a dinner roll. He'd tuned out completely. Mrs. Croix had seen him watching Joanne. The woman had frowned at him. He couldn't come up with a legitimate excuse for why he would stare at the woman's daughter like that.

"Yes, they were like three peas in a pod," her mother continued. "We spent happy days at those beach houses. You would follow them everywhere. And when you weren't following them, they followed you."

"Right, we knew each other when we were babies," Jo laughed and put her napkin in her lap.

No one else laughed. James looked from David back to his wife. Karen pulled a small picture out of her pocketbook, and put it on Joanne's place setting. It was a grainy Polaroid of three children sitting on a bench looking up at the camera. She recognized herself immediately, and Jerry too, but she didn't know where the picture was taken or who the little light skinned girl next to her was.

"That is obviously you," Karen pointed to Jo, "that is Jeremy, and that is Donatello." Joanne looked over at Daniel. There seemed to be a subtle smile on his lips as he busied himself by pulling apart a slice of his roll. 'Yeah, Mom didn't cut my hair much when I was small.'

"Donatello," Joanne remembered Candy saying that name. "I don't..."

"That is his given name, dear. We were tired of his teachers misspeaking, and so we changed it to a more American one," David smiled directly at her this time.

"But, you hate me..." Joanne said. 

The parents laughed nervously as Jo looked from one to the other. 'He does. Or he did, if he tried to get me to meet up with Jerry.' David's smile grew dim. "Those are harsh words. In the beginning, I wasn't sure it was you. Naturally, a father wishes to protect his son from the dangers of the world. I don't know how I could have mistaken you for that other girl, but..." 'Other girl? He thought I was Jesse? How could he ever... Jesse's nothing like me.' Joanne lost part of what he said. "... things that you said reminded me of your mother. Then, you didn't come back for over a month. It took me about that long to find your parents again. I was so happy to see you in the shop again. Unfortunately, Daniel was rightfully angry with me, and so we haven't said anything about you, since."

"And, you didn't help, either," her mother scolded Jo softly. "How was I supposed to know you were talking about Danny? Dogs? A fiancé? Dave hadn't told us about that in his e-mails. And what about Junior? You didn't speak of him at all?"

"It was hard on the boys. After Francoise died, David went to spend time with his mother. I try to stay in touch, but..." David's gaze dropped to the tablecloth. It was obviously an issue that David didn't want to say anything about.  "Honestly, it hurt just to watch the way that the boy was with you the night that Candace invited herself over." David ventured a brief glance directly into Jo's eyes, to change the subject, before he directed his attention to her parents again. "You should have seen how fast your girl left. The boy was so far gone. He couldn't even be angry with Candace, as he should have been. That Candace did horrible things to my son. She still does. The girl has this penchant for sensing happiness and appears to put a stop to it."

Joanne stole another glance at Daniel, and he openly stared right back. He leaned toward her and dropped the mangled bread to his saucer. He dared her to say something. She kept silent as she placed her hands flat on the table on either side of her plate and concentrated on the continuous pattern that circled the rim. Daniel watched her feel the texture of the tablecloth.

"That Candace, you never know what she says is the truth. We learned it the hard way. Daniel was embarrassed to talk about how she had fooled him. He was convinced of her loyalty. I didn't speak of the engagement, because he told me not to. Didn't you, boy?"

"Pop," his voice was low and unconcerned as he studied her face again, "No one needs to hear about that, right now."

"It's part of the story. You wouldn't begrudge me a good story," David smiled as he noticed Daniel's hand inch toward Joanne's on the table. The girl hadn't noticed. He reached his fingertips and glanced them across the top of her hand. She looked up at him and moved her hand to her lap reluctantly.

"Of course, but I don't think I need to hear it." Dan stood up and placed his napkin over his plate. "You can tell them while we're gone. Dance?" He offered his hand to Joanne as he did, once, months before. 

She shook her head at him and was about to decline, when he said, "It's just a dance."

She hesitated for a moment. She looked around the table at their parents' faces. David actually wanted her to go. Her parents, on the other hand, were of mixed mind. Her mother seemed encouraging, so she figured she wouldn't get that much grief if she left the weirdness at the table. 'Just this one time, Jo. It's just a dance. You can go back to avoiding him tomorrow.'

She looked up at Dan's gentle smile and felt his fingers close around hers. She followed him out to the ballroom. The musicians were the perfect match for the dining room next door. There were older couples all over the floor. Daniel circled around her and moved his body to make solid contact with her back. She looked up and back at him.

"Shall we?"

Without getting her response, Daniel spun her out and pulled her back to face him. She instinctively held fast and moved with him as they did a modified fox trot. She was happy to remember it from school. 

"Nothing I can surprise you with, is there?" He was just barely louder than the band.

'So, this is how it is? You don't talk to me, and now you want to talk?' She wasn't sure whether he was just being civil or not, so she went the casual route and asked, "Who's Junior?"

"My older brother. Half-brother really. Not much to say. We don't talk. Something about my dad leaving his mom for mine." She felt him close the distance between them and heard, "So, how's Gary?"

She didn't want him to know that she wasn't doing so great, so she looked right into his eyes and lied, "He's great. He couldn't make it."

Dan frowned playfully and said, "They didn't invite him, did they?"

"Well, no..."

"Of course not. They wanted to set us up. Well, Pops did, anyway. I think I was a surprise to your folks, though. Did I surprise you?"

"No," she said before she thought about it. 

"See, you just lied to me again. It's just like old times," he smiled.

"I meant, I figured they'd be setting me up with someone. I didn't know it would be you." She back-peddled and nearly trod on his shoe. "What about you lying to me?"

"I never lied to you."

"When you told me all of those things, they became lies."

He parried, "I meant every word I ever said to you..."

"You did? Even this past week? After what I said, I thought ... Never mind what I thought. You never did a damn thing to back me up. You play a good game, but there's no follow through."

"No follow through!" Those words came out as the band finished the song. Dan nodded firmly at the few people right next to them.

He lowered his voice and frowned, "I gave you some space, so you could get rid of Gary. Then, It got all weird when you came near me. I don't know what's been happening to me. But, you should have said something if you thought I was mean to you. Anyway, Gary's not gone yet, so I'll give you some more time."

She frowned right back at him, "I think I need a little more."

"You think?"

"Yeah. I think I need a lot of time away from you.  Because seeing you every day is wearing a bit thin. You and your damn crazy... Ugh. You can leave me the hell alone and go back to Candy. I hate..."

Joanne was just gearing up for a good yell. He could see her little nose wrinkle in that adorable way that she had when he got her going.  She was finally fighting back. Her face was so angry, she would never see it coming. His mouth pressed to hers. Her brain was screaming, 'How dare he kiss me out in public,' but her mouth opened to accept his tongue. She felt his hand cup the back of her head as he moved his other arm behind her back. They lingered there as the sound of the next song rose around them. He gave her a few light pecks that barely brushed her lips before he pressed his forehead to hers.

"Christ," he growled. "Don't say something you can't take back. Why do you have to be so stubborn? I want you! Nobody else!" 'There, finally. I said it out loud. I said it out loud?'

She felt him tremble as he continued to hold her head against his.  Her entire body tingled as his breath brushed her lips. She felt his fingers dig into the bodice of her dress and it made her stomach go warm. She wanted to speak, but when he finally let go, his emotion filled eyes kept her silent.

He said, "Okay, I'm sorry for scaring you, but I could feel the fight coming. I'd rather you be mad at me for a legitimate reason. I've waited too long as it is. It's you and me, understand?"

"Yes," she whispered as he held her face in his hands.

"Good. Can we please dance?"

"Uh, okay."

"Okay!" Daniel backed away and positioned his hand at her back.

The spell he'd cast with his eyes subsided, and she laughed at the red marks they'd made around his mouth. She pulled the kerchief from his suit pocket and dabbed at his face. 'Now, I wish I'd used the smear-free stuff. How was I supposed to know that I'd get kissed? It serves him right. He shouldn't just do that to people.'

He smiled, too. "You should see your face."

Jo covered her mouth with her fingers. 'I probably look like a clown!'

"How about I meet you back here in five minutes," he whispered close to her ear.

She nodded and they both moved toward opposite ends of the room to find a bathroom. She felt lucky to find the room empty after she saw herself in the mirror. He'd managed to smear the lipstick off of her lips. She worked a damp tissue into her face to try to get the pigment off of the wrong places. 'What was that? What were you thinking? You just frenched him right out in the open. You need to get a hold of yourself.' When she was satisfied with the clean up, she carefully reapplied a fresh coat of burgundy to her lips. 'No more nonsense. He looks so good in that suit. You just have to be stronger than that. He was a jerk. You can't let that slide.'

Daniel stood in the center of the room. He frowned at the dark red splotches on his father's handkerchief. His father would kill him for ruining one of his good hankies. 'It would be for a great reason,' he smiled wistfully. He still couldn't believe that she'd finally risen to his challenge. Dan was beginning to think that she'd keep up the carefully thought out conversation filled with apologies and timidity.  He noticed her coast along the floor toward him. She smiled nervously at him, which made his heart do strange things in his chest. She'd put the lipstick back on.

Dan grimaced inside, 'Damn! Okay. Okay. Better for me. We'll go with the surreptitious approach.'

When she got close enough, he pressed his lips to her temple as he sighed, "I thought you weren't coming back."

"The parents drove," she joked in an attempt to break the intimate growl in his voice.

"And, for that I am grateful."

He took her hand and slid his other hand around her waist. There were no more words. The music eventually waned as they slowly moved across the floor. She was his music. The feel of her skin across his fingers stimulated them both just enough to keep their attention from straying. He stroked lightly at her arm as they made a slow circuit around the room. He felt the urge to reconnect their lips, but the lipstick made him shy away to the spot right next to the corner of her mouth. She didn't protest when he pulled her in to rest her head on his chest. She closed her eyes and listened to his strong heartbeat. She felt so secure in his arms. She'd always felt that way. 'Too bad things worked out the way that they did.' Jo was pretty sure that this would be a momentary thing. It felt too good. She was nearly ready to sigh when he let go of her abruptly.

***

David took a furtive glance around the pillar he'd set himself behind. The boy swayed slowly with her in his arms. He watched the two wrap around each other. He'd seen it on his son's face when Daniel came back to the shop a few weeks ago. David knew he had to do something to fix things. After all, he'd had a hand in upsetting the girl. It was only right to contact Jimmy and Karen to sort it out. He wasn't sure why they'd responded negatively when he explained the situation, but he knew they couldn't turn down a good meal. The older Langier wasn't sure it would work, but he slipped the band a bill for two more songs, anyway. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Karen standing next to him.

"So, how much did you slip the conductor?"

"Uh," he considered lying, but she smiled knowingly at him. "A hundred."

Karen nonchalantly leaned in to get a better view of the couple. "Yeah, I gave him another fifty. Your son has it bad, doesn't he?"

"You're not mad?"

"No, Dave, I'm skeptical. You should have told us more. Honestly. You contacted us out of the blue to ask us about Jo, but you never said why. You made it sound like she was chasing him. She's never chased a boy in her life. Not even one that she obviously wants. Then, she acted like she'd been crushed when she came home for Christmas. And just now, she seemed...scared when she saw him..."

"Oh, no," he soothed. "He'd never do anything to harm her. He's been putting his foot in his mouth since January. Look at the boy. Look at his face. You have to remember how Jimmy looked when you first met."

"Yeah, stupid in love with me. Jimmy still gets that look on his face, sometimes," she smirked as she turned to look David in the eye. "So what. I was never afraid of Jimmy. Tell me what happened to the plan we agreed to years ago? What makes Daniel get the seat that belongs to Jeremy?"

David looked down at his shoes. "Something's happened."

"What?"

"I'm not sure. But, I don't think she is as interested in Jerry as you think she is."

***

"Hey, man," a short man stood next to Daniel and Joanne. Apparently the room had emptied, because it was just the three of them on the vast stretch of hardwood floor. "We just got 150 bucks to keep you on the floor for the next hour."

Dan looked over toward the dining room doorway to see his father peering around a pillar next to Mrs. Croix.

"It didn't happen to come from that guy over there, did it?"

"Yeah. Honestly, you haven't heard the last three songs, have you?"

"There was music," Daniel smiled down at Joanne.

"Why don't you guys sit down? We'll be taking a dinner break, soon. You can come back when the music starts up, again."

"Thanks," Dan wrapped a cautious arm back around her. 'Dancing is one thing, but standing in public with my arm around her is something else.' She looked up at him and smiled slowly. She was okay with it. Dan couldn't stop the grin on his face.  His cheeks just wouldn't relax. When they returned to their places at the table, he reluctantly moved his hand from her waist and held her chair.  "We took the liberty of ordering for you," David effervesced to Daniel. "I know that you prefer chicken in mixed company. Is it the same for you, Joanne?"

Joanne blushed from the way that they were all looking at her. She concentrated on the array of food. The parents had sampled a few of the courses while they were away. There was an obvious hole in the wild rice and a large slice out of the roast pork. Her father had his customary steak and the largest baked potato she'd ever seen.

"So," James said as he cut into his steak, "I hear you play piano, Daniel." The man acted as though his daughter hadn't been away from the table dancing at all.

"Yeah, I used to play a little."

"A little," David scoffed. "He could be making money on the chamber circuit if he wanted to. He sells his songs to Jerry now. That science hobby broke his concentration."

"Science isn't a hobby," Jo said in a demure attempt to stop the interrogation before it started. This was only the beginning of the questioning. By the end of the meal, her parents would know everything Daniel didn't want them to know. "It's a way of life."

"No," Karen corrected. "It's a way to avoid your life."

Jo felt her cheeks burn even more. Her mother though trying to deflect the concentration, only managed to focus her husbands attention.




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 13



Jo felt something touch her knee and jumped. The movement dislodged her fork from her grasp. It clanged off of the edge of the plate on its way over the edge. Daniel reached over the table and caught her fork before it bounced to the floor. She moved her hand with his, and he grabbed her fingers out of the others' site. He searched her face and led her fingers slide out of his grasp. He straightened up. 'What are you doing,' she tried to think at him. Daniel just nodded at her as he set the fork in its proper place next to her plate. 

"You chose science over the piano?" James pointed for Jo to pass the mushrooms. She carefully moved the plate closer to her father.

"I figured, three years at Stone Prep was more than enough music theory," Daniel smiled as he showed a stillness above the table that belied the shaking leg under it

"Stone Prep... Wasn't that where Jerry went?" Karen asked after finishing a small mouthful of peas.

"Yeah, bay. Jerry finished out there. You remember, don't you Jo?"

Jo felt them looking at her. "Yeah." 

"Yeah," her father nodded as he took a bite. "I heard he was in town a few weeks ago."

"Yeah," she responded. Jo knew where this was heading. James Croix was in love with the idea of Jerry, even though Joanne had made a point of never being in the same room with him for the past four years. She waited for it.

Right on cue, her father asked, "Did you go see him when he was here, bay?"

"Yes, I did...with Gary."

"Did you tell Gary that you used to know him? You would still know him, if you came home more often."

"No. I didn't tell Gary." She looked up at Dan. His face was in the processes of forming that mask he had when he wasn't too happy with something but would go on as if nothing was wrong. He knew just how to relax his face so that he wouldn't grind his teeth, but he found it hard with the tone of voice her father was using.

"Well, you should be proud of him. He's done well for himself," James sat up straight and set down his fork and knife. He formed a peak with his fingers in front of his mouth. Joanne knew this to be his way of trying to hide his displeasure. "Did you at least go back and say hi to him?"

"No, Dad."

"Why not? He called and said he was looking forward to seeing you. He said he wanted to reconnect."

Jo felt herself babbling, "Why would he say that? I saw him a few days before that, and he didn't recognize me, so I didn't feel like bothering him, but then Gary got the tickets, and Candy came in and tore my..." Jo felt a squeeze to her fingers and she stopped. Daniel had reached above the table and taken her hand.

"She was too busy to go see him because she was dealing with me," Daniel said quickly.

"Huh?" David looked at Karen.

James raised a hand in Dan's direction and said, "This isn't about you right now."

"It is. There are some things she doesn't tell you about. Like me, for one," Dan smiled reassuringly at Jo.  Jo tried to figure out where he was going. This would probably blow up in their faces, but she kept quiet anyway. "I was at the concert. She was there with Gary, but she wasn't actually with him. She was there to see me."

It was Karen's turn to look to David with confusion, but Daniel's father was too busy watching the expression on James' face. He'd dropped his lips below his hands for a moment. The man's brows creased.

"So, that's what this is. You have a thing for my daughter. So, Dad comes to the rescue and sets this thing up. Well, I've got a surprise coming for you, boy..."

"I'm not a boy. I haven't been a boy for quite some time," Dan countered. He hadn't been ready to argue his case, but it just spilled out. "She wouldn't have held my hand on the way to the ballroom, if she didn't want to," Dan massaged her fingers in his hand. "She's not the type of woman that would dance with a strange man, either. She knows me, Mr. Croix. We have a history. We know a lot about each other, because of the time we've spent in the lab. When we're there, we work well together, because we think along the same lines. You can't mention the concert without including me. I was there. I'm the main reason she was there. I've been with her more than you have. There have been a few misunderstandings, but I plan to work them out. You and Pop might have gotten us here tonight, but nobody made her sleep over with me. It was her choice." 'No, that didn't sound the way it should have.'

Jo watched the steam rise in James chest and eventually settle in his shoulders. "Daddy... It wasn't like that..."

Her father growled, "No. You didn't."

"No, she didn't. You should know your daughter better than that," David bowed his head to avoid contact with Joanne's eyes, ashamed of how he'd treated her that morning over a two months ago.

"Yeah, Mr. C. She'd never do anything to make you ashamed of her, or anything," a voice behind her made her cringe. Jeremy Carter placed a hand on Jo's shoulder to keep her firmly in her seat. "Sorry, I'm late."

James Croix stood up, grabbed Jeremy's hand, and put an arm around his back. "Glad you could make it, son." Jerry smiled broadly as he eyed Dan and Jo out of the corner of his eye.

This was some sort of a calculated plot. 'Jerry was supposed to be in Danny's seat. This whole night was supposed to get us together, I bet. Dad must have called him when he realized Mr. Langier hadn't called.' 

Daniel nearly got up, but he remembered Jo's fingers in his. Jo gripped him firmly then let go. By the look on her face, she really needed to get away. He released her immediately. She got up and said, "Excuse me," as she stumbled out of her chair. Dan followed her up. David automatically rose with a nod to Karen.

"Jo, where you going? Don't tell me, you've got another appointment or something," Jerry was smooth in his maneuver.

Joanne spun around. "No, I don't. I just need to get to the bathroom."

"Then, what's he up for?" Jerry nodded in Dan's direction. "He gonna help? You got him whipped already?"

Jo's face burned. She looked Jerry square in the eye and said, "Fuck you, Jeremy Carter! It's none of your damn business what he does." 'Damn it! Why do I feel like I need to do that when he's around?'

Her parents recoiled. 'They've never heard me swear.'

"What? Joanne, why do you have to act like this every time I want to talk to you?" Jerry's controlled grin made Joanne even more angry.

"Because, you..." She couldn't say it. 'Why the hell can't I just call him out?' She felt an arm wrap around her waist. She looked up into Dan's eyes and gathered herself. 

Jeremy moved close to James and softly said, "Yeah, I figured. Look, I didn't want to say anything, but..." He glanced over at Jo to make sure she was listening. "your daughter's mad at me for not calling. She's using him as a way to get back at me. What better way than to hook up with a guys friend, right? I mean, he's been messed up since his girl, right? He was easy pickings, really. I thought he'd be stronger, but..."

Dan felt his face turn red. He managed to keep Jo firmly planted next to him. He felt her muscles flex as she struggled to move toward Jerry.

"Jerry, you need to leave," she grunted.

"I was invited, Jo." Jerry faced her fully with an arm around her father. He taunted her with his control over her family.

Dan didn't want to let go of her, but she put a hand on his chest and pushed him back gently. Joanne stood on her own. She pleaded with James, "Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"No, I think you and Jerry need to sit down and talk," James frowned at her as he pulled out his chair for Jeremy to sit.

"I don't want..."

Daniel tried as well, "I think..."

"What will it hurt," James commanded more than suggested. "You've known each other for too long to act like this. There's nothing you can't work out."

'Fine. My own father won't back me up. I'll give you your win, Jer. But, you just wait. Once we get out of this fancy place, I'm gonna take you out.' "Fine, I'll give you five minutes in the ballroom," came from her firm lips as she turned and walked away. 

Once they got into the deserted room, Jerry said, "What? You didn't have a heavy enough bag this time?"

She turned on him and said, "You now have four minutes."

"Damn, Jo. Why you doing this? You and me, we were the best. We went everywhere together. I bought you stuff. I made you breakfast..."

"That doesn't change anything." She crossed her arms and tried not to think of all of the times she'd been alone with him and thought nothing of it. Now, all she could think of was his hands. She concentrated on them as he waved them back and forth.

"I told you I loved you. You have to remember that," he purred. "You were my girlfriend."

"How can you say that with a straight face?"

"I can say it, because I mean it," he said as he leaned toward her and took her arm.

She tried to pull away, but he held her in a vice grip. "You're hurting me, Jerry," she made sure that her voice was controlled.

"No, I'm not. I've never hurt you, ever." He pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers. She responded with an open handed slap to his left cheek. He looked at her with a strange smile on his face.

"You hurt me that night," she incredulously breathed.

"No, I didn't. You twisted it. We made love. Remember? I held you in my arms..."

She braced herself against his forward momentum, but tripped back anyway. "No, I remember. You hurt me, Jerry. L...let go."

"Say it."

"Say what?"

He shoved her off-balance and caught her up completely in his embrace. "Say we made love."

"You fucked me," she flatly said. "I may have only done it the once, but I know the difference between making love and being fucked."

Jerry stood there with her in his arms for a moment then let her regain her feet. "You sure got a dirty mouth, didn't you." He put his thumb to his lips and wiped them.  He looked at the red smudge on his finger and then straightened his shirt.

She stiffened her back and returned his open stare. "We're done?"

"No, we're not."

Jo sucked her teeth and shook her head at him. 'You really are pitiful. Couldn't say it even then, could you?' She turned her back to him and headed back to the restaurant. She raised a hand and said over her shoulder, "Have fun with Jesse, would you?"


"Hey, hey. Don't blame her for that thing at the shop. She figured you needed to talk to me. Get a little something worth keeping. I mean, how was I supposed to tell her that we were together..."

She turned on him with a pointed finger. "We were never together. I saved myself. It was supposed to be something special. Instead, I got it on some floor. That's all we have in common. That floor. Huh, I guess we have two, now that I had to listen to you and Jesse..."

"But, bay..."

"You don't call me that. Only people that love me call me that. Like my Dad."

*

The four people sat at the table in awkward silence. Daniel looked from Mrs. Croix, who seemed somewhat pleasant though worried, to his father, who vacillated between worry and feigned interest in the food. James, however, seemed overly happy with himself. Large chunks of meat went down his throat as he made idle chit chat to himself, since no one else was in a talkative mood.

"You'll see," he preened as he took a sip of wine. "They'll be together when they come back in here."

Dan slowly made the challenge, "You're so sure about that. Did you ever think that she might not follow your script?"

*

"Why do you think I'm here after what you did at Langier's?"

"You want to make me suffer?"

"I need it to be okay with us..."

"What?" She couldn't believe the pile of shit he was trying to make her accept.

"You're the only girl I've known this long. We were supposed to be together. I'm ready to make that happen."

"Are you deaf?" She growled at him.

"Fine," he moved away from her. "I'm supposed to get a second chance."

Jo thought for a moment, 'I used to worship the ground he walked on. Now, I can't stand to hear him talking.'

"No," she said, "I'm done with this."

"We've been avoiding each other since that night," he groaned as he turned partway toward her again. Joanne felt her face tighten as he closed the space between them. She couldn't believe he was sticking with this tactic. A month ago, he was nothing but arrogant charm. She knew how to deal with that. "It's been 4 years, Jo. We were both kids. Can you please get over it, so we can try something real? I won't say sorry again. I don't know why you can't accept that from me."

'Get over it? Like you spilled something on me, and offered to pay for my clothes?' "You raped me," she hissed as she moved to keep from his reach, "then you told me you loved me. I can't accept..."

"Listen to me," his words rolled in her brain. "You're not listening to what I'm saying."

Joanne froze. Something sat like lead in her stomach, she held whatever the heaviness meant in with her arms.

"Look at me!" 

Joanne looked into his sharp brown eyes for the first time in all of those years. A wave of an old familiar emotion washed over her as he pulled her in.

*

Daniel couldn't stand it anymore. He got up in the middle of James' story and walked toward the ballroom. The man was sitting there talking about how Joanne's life had been planned out since she was two years old. Joanne was meant to marry Jerry and give birth to the next generation of prodigies. Karen didn't say anything to the contrary.

He stood in the doorway as he watched Joanne folding her arms around her waist as Jerry spoke.  Her eyes were on the hardwood floor and he barely heard her speaking. She'd obviously withdrawn from the situation as far as she dared to. Dan let out a slow breath and walked out toward them. Before he got a step, Jerry yelled and lunged at her. Daniel ran over and stopped Jeremy from giving her another hard shake by putting his hands around her waist and shoulder from behind.

"Get off of her," Jerry growled.

"I shoulda shut your mouth for good," Dan growled right back at him. "I thought you'd get it that you don't get to rough people up around me."

"Let her go, Danny. We need to get a few things straight."

"I think things are just as straight as they'll ever be," Dan felt Joanne lean into his hands. "What was the point, tonight? She didn't want her parents to know what happened. You shoulda respected that."

"What the fuck do you know about respect," Jerry shoved Jo at Dan as if she were a chair. "I was the one that carried you when you dropped out. Me! I gave you that writing credit. What have you given me? You shoulda stepped aside after I told you I wanted her."

Dan moved Jo to stand behind him. He kept her from leaving his side by holding her hand.

"I gave you the entire song, Jer, not just the words.  You may be heavy handed, but every sigh you made on that stage was mine. I've been giving in to you for years. You've taken way too much from us as it is."

"Us?"

"Jo and me. I'm not stupid. If what you told me was the truth, you wouldn't have come here to shut her up, would you?"

"Whoa, whao, whao. You and Jo? I'm her future. Not you. Me. Her parents think I'm gonna take her off of their hands. Who do you think called me? She was my girlfriend..." Jerry made a move toward Joanne. Without hesitation, Dan moved in front of her. 

"Was. She isn't now. Are you, honey," he said as he gave Jo's hand a squeeze.

'Honey?' "Uh, no."

"Hold it. Did you just call her, honey?"

"Yeah. I did."

Jerry scoffed, "You got your first taste of the berry, didn't you, chief? You think there's nothing better, so you lost your goddamn mind."

"Shut it, Jer, or I'll shut it for you."

Jerry laughed, "Like you tried to do before? I beat that ass then. What makes you think I won't do it again?"

"What makes you think I wasn't feeling guilty just then and let you hit me?" 'Too macho. Tone it down. Be calm. Composed. You probably look as much like a moron as you feel.' 

"Bitch, please. I own you," Jerry proclaimed as he pointed to himself. "Now, get outta here. We have some things to say. Jo, lets go outside for a few minutes."

"She's not leaving my sight. Not with you," Dan frowned at himself. 'You might as well have said over my dead body.' "You've hurt her, enough."

"What the hell is this? She's not your girl. I told you!" Jerry stepped in toward Dan again.

"She's nobody's girl!"



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 14



David and Karen watched from the doorway. They'd left James in his seat to go after Daniel. James Croix watched them go, but didn't make a move. Karen seemed confused, which was something that she never showed. David had never seen his son stand taller. Jerry was inches from his face, but Dan didn't move away. David wondered what happened to the quiet boy that he'd always known. Daniel held his shoulders back as he spoke with conviction, "She's nobody's girl!" Jo put a hand on the boy's arm and he looked down at her. Dan returned his gaze to Jerry and interlaced his fingers with hers. Jerry ended up submitting slightly by turning aside. His point made, Dan turned to Joanne and moved her toward the doorway. She walked slowly toward her mother.

*

Dan turned back to Jeremy and said, "You don't want to fight me, Jerry." He'd been ready to fight, but Jerry seemed to hesitate when he didn't back up. 

"No," Jerry relaxed. "I shouldn't have to."

"The thing is, I want to fight you. I want to wipe that stupid look offa your face." Daniel loosened his tie. "But, I won't do it in front of Jo. You want to get into it with me, we can do it some other time. Right now, you need to go." He felt weird standing there the way that he was. This was his best friend. He knew everything about this man. Jerry was the guy that sat with him at his mother's funeral. 'Now, I don't know what to think or say other than you're a prick.'

"Dismissed, huh?"

"Exactly," Dan frowned at Jerry and walked with him toward the restaurant.

*

When Joanne got close enough, Karen put her hands on her arms and asked, "What just happened?"

Joanne looked at her mother and said, "I don't want to talk, right now. I don't want them to fight..." 'Dan'll lose.' Her eyes burned, "I want to go home. Can I?"

Karen's voice grew soft, "Baby, we'll settle the check. That's what we'll do. We'll pay the check then stop off at your apartment to pick up your clothes..."

Jo pulled out of her grasp. "No, I just want to go home. Just drop me off at home."

"But, baby. I can't leave you at that place after what I just saw."

"What did you see?" 'You probably think those two are fighting over me.'

"I saw Danny jump in front of you like Jerry was going to hit you. That is what I saw, wasn't it?"

Jo looked into her mothers sparkling brown eyes. 'Score one for Mom.' "That's exactly it. Now, do you get it? Do I have to call a cab, because if I do..."

"Should we call the police?" Karen looked to David for a recommendation.

Jo disagreed, "I don't think they'll fight each other. I mean, they're friends." 'Well, they used to be.' 

David shook his head, "Those two had a pretty hard fight after you left the shop. I had to give away free food to get some of the regulars to come back inside."

Karen voiced her surprise, "Jerry's done this before? Why didn't you just say that's what happened?"

Jo sighed, "What is there to say? Dad's in love with Jerry. If I even hint that I don't like him, Dad flips out. If I'd told you, Dad would have probably taken his side..."

"Well, tell me now, Joanne. What would make two otherwise sane boys turn into thugs?"

"It doesn't matter, anymore." Joanne watched the two men walk quietly past her on their way into the restaurant.

*

"What's going on, here?" James Croix grabbed Jeremy's arm as he passed the table.

Jerry glanced in Dan's direction and frowned, "I'm sorry Mr. Croix. Maybe, I'll see you when you want to hear my side of things."

"But, Jer..."

"Jimmy, you let him go," Karen said as she pulled Joanne along by her wrist.

"But, bay..."

"I think we need to pay better attention to our daughter. We raised her with a lot of sense. She says she doesn't want to be anywhere near this man. If she feels this strongly about it, we should be the first people to tell him he doesn't belong here." 

Jerry stood there with James' hand on his wrist and used his eyes to plead with Joanne. Joanne watched the way that Jerry looked back down at her father. He leaned in and gripped James' shoulder. It made sense. Dad had always wanted a boy. When she was little, she would try everything to get her father to notice her. She pretended to like everything that he liked. The one thing that stuck was watching TV. But, Jeremy didn't have to do anything. He just breathed and James was happy. She looked away. 'I can't compete with that.' Joanne quietly said as she pulled from her mother's grasp, "I think I'm the one that doesn't belong here."

"Honey," Karen soothed, "he can hit the road for all I care."

"No, I think I've had enough for tonight, anyway. Jerry can enjoy the dinner. I'm sure he and Dad have some things they want to catch up on." She turned slowly and walked out to coat check .

Karen made a move to protest, but David touched her hand and nodded toward Daniel. "Don't worry. He's following."

*

Jo turned in the ticket for her coat. 'You shoulda just told everybody in the whole place what he did. No. I can't do that to Dad. He'd never forgive me.'

"I kinda get it now," Daniel startled her with his proximity. He'd managed to be inches from her when she turned around. "But, I don't think it's right. You should tell them."

She looked up at him and smiled weakly, "If I tell them, they lose two children. You can't come riding to the rescue this time. There's no happy ending."

"How are you getting home?"

She went through her little clutch purse, "I have money for a cab..."

"I'll drive you home."

She tried to fight him. "Why should I get into a car with you?"

"Mayhaps, my horse is in the shop. And, I'd really rather spend the night watching over my lady." 

Joanne looked at him, "You sound sappy."

He arched in conspiratorially. "I can't help it. Brit Lit minor. I fight it every time I talk to you. Sometimes, I fight it so hard, I end up saying nothing. Who knows, if we hadn't seen each other tonight, I might have really done something sappy like...maybe, professing my undying love to you in front of 150 people. I think you understand why I didn't do that."

She held up her hand to stop him from moving in closer. "I do. But..."

"I'm not enough of a jerk for you to refuse the ride, am I?"

"I guess not," she frowned.

"Good, because I already had the valet get the car," he smiled as he took her coat from the attendant. He opened it so that it hung open for her to put her arms through. When she turned and put the first arm through, he said, "Are you sure you don't want to go to my place? Jesse might be there."

"No, I think I should just go to my apartment." 'If she is there, I'll just have some trash to put out.'

He watched her button her wool coat and put a hand on her back to guide her out to his car.

Jo stopped in mid-stride. "What about your dad?"

Dan smiled again, "Ever thoughtful. We drove separately. I insisted on it, in case he wanted to stay longer than I did. Or, if he saddled me with some crazy chick..."

"Hmmm." 'I guess he did.'

"I had no idea the woman he chose for me would be the one I picked myself. I mean, imagine my joy at seeing you. And when you danced with me, I nearly..."

"You can stop the charm," she said as he opened the door for her. "I'm getting in the car."

Dan stood with the door open as she settled in the car. Not until she was sitting comfortably, did he shut out the cold air and walk around to get in himself. She took her usual position with her face toward the window as he pulled away from the curb.

"So, how's class going?"

She didn't turn to face him, "Are you supposed to be able to ask me that?"

"Yeah, I think. I'm not handing out the grades. I'm not making the tests. I think we should be fine if you tell me."

"I'm struggling with the mechanisms. I'm trying to memorize them, but..."

"Don't memorize. Think of it as the cycle that it is. The previous change leads to the next. Cells do it all of the time. Acetic acid or some derivative appears in almost every cycle. There's a reason for that."

"I know, but how is that going to help if I get asked about the number of ATP's produced in various aspects of different cycles. It doesn't," she frowned at the glass.

Dan had gone into teacher mode without thinking about it. That's not what she wanted. He let her sit quietly as they got to her parking lot. He turned off the car and something caught his eye on the passenger side floorboard. It was the pale sole of a shoe. He looked over at her hose covered foot and then up to her ankle. Those pretty shoes had left impressions in the tops of her feet. 'She must have taken them off while I was driving. They must hurt.' He hopped out of the car and rushed around to her side. Before she could get the shoe back on, he had the door open and was reaching in for her. He scooped her up and held her in the air.

She clutched at him in fear that she'd fall. "My shoes!"

He hefted her to reposition her in his arms. "You have your purse?"

"Yeah."

"Keys in the shoes?"

"No."

"Then, I'll get 'em later."

He got her inside the building and made sure the door was shut behind them. She'd wrinkled her nose and furrowed her brow, but she didn't protest. He looked up at the three flights of stairs between them and her apartment.

"You can put me down, and I'll walk up..."

"No way. You'll tear those stockings," he ventured a look at those little toes. She wiggled them and frowned. "Besides, I get to hold you all the way up there."

He took the first few steps slowly to get used to the change in his center of gravity, then trudged up as though he wasn't carrying anything at all. By the bottom of the third set of stairs, he slowed. His legs were burning. Joanne felt him struggle, and let go of his neck. He tipped forward to keep her in his arms and she slid easily to the floor.

She smiled, "You made a good try, but you're not meant for that," as she trotted up the toward her door. He watched the brown legs flash under her skirt as it bounced higher and higher with every step. He wanted to rush in and grab the closest leg. 'Hell, I gotta work out. I can't even catch up with that.' He moved slowly up the stairs as she got her keys into the lock.

"Come on, Danny. I'll let you carry me around the apartment, if you really want to," she toyed with him.

"Beg pardon?" 'Say it again. Say it again.'

"Just get in here. I'll see if Jesse's in."

He got to the doorway in time to see her disappear down the hall to the bedrooms. He closed the door and sat down on the couch. There was a book open on the coffee table.

Jo looked in every room before she went to her room and pulled the dress off. Jesse wasn't there. She quickly changed into a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. She didn't want Dan left out there by himself for too long. When she got back, he was on her couch with his jacket open. His eyes were slightly closed as he held up the book she'd been reading earlier. She looked at the clock on the stove. It was ten o'clock. Dan was tired, but he wasn't going to say anything. 

"Hey." He focused on her and smiled. "Feel better, now that you're out of those clothes?"

"Yeah," she softly said as she sat down next to him.

"I wish I could change, but I doubt you'd have anything that would fit me."

Jo thought for a second. 'It was kinda rude to change clothes when he can't. Do you have anything that could possibly fit him?'

"I have a robe you can borrow. It doesn't have flowers or anything on it. It would be more comfortable to sleep in..."

"Is that an offer?" He watched that odd warmth cross her face.

"Um, if you want it to be," she finally came up with as she went into the kitchen to get something to drink. "I mean, I don't want you to fall asleep at the wheel, or something."

"Yeah, I'm a bit tired. But, I need to help Pop in the morning..."

"I'm sure he'd understand. I mean, this wouldn't be the first time you missed making the donuts," she turned toward him and took a big swig of juice. 'Oh, no.' By the look of surprise on his face, he didn't remember coming over that night.

He cocked his head at her and slowly asked, "How would you know that?"

'I am so busted. Leave it to me to mention probably the one time in his life he didn't make the donuts.' "Uh, I just figured. You know, I've played hooky, before..."

He closed his eyes, let his head hit the back of the couch, and groaned, "So, you saw me after the concert?"

"Of course," she said. "You left with Candy..."

"No, you saw me drinking at the pub. No, no. Drunk at the pub, would be more like it."

"No, I didn't."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying. I went straight home after the concert." She set the drink down and faced him.

"I don't think I want to hear this."

"Fine, don't. It's easier that way," she made a move for the hallway.

"But, one question."

"Hmm?" 'I wish I'd picked the first bedroom when we moved in. I'd be in there with the door shut by now.' She turned and looked at his upturned face. He was frowning at the ceiling.

"Did I make a complete ass out of myself?"

She walked into the living room and put a hand on the edge of the couch. "I don't think you did."

He turned and looked at her, "So, I did something right that night?"

"Well, I don't know about right."

She scanned his face. He looked so natural with his head resting on her couch. The rest of him didn't really share that ease. His butt was balanced at the edge of the cushion with his long legs stretched far out across the floor.

"Was I gross and smelly?"

"No, I don't remember any smell. I mean, you weren't reeking. Why? I thought you didn't want to know."

"I do want to know. I just don't want to hear it, if its bad."

She sat on the edge of the couch and said, "You drunk dialed me. You wanted to warm up. I don't know why I let you up here, really. You were a complete ass at the concert..."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm an ass for walking out like that. I felt bad doing it. Let's focus, shall we? I called you and came over?"

"Uh, huh. You curled up on my couch and tried to go to sleep."

"I did?"

"Pretty much," she blushed. "You said some stuff, and I took you home." 'I'll spare you the details.'

"Some stuff?" He sat up and put a leg up on the cushions. "What stuff?"

She was going to say nothing, but he had this strange look on his face. "Not much. You just told me that you wanted to be with me." 'And that you loved me, but I won't hold you to that.'

He pushed up to stand and shook out his legs. "I still do, so that wasn't bad. I guess. You made me think it was something big. Do I still get the robe?"

She kept the relief to herself as she said, "Sure. I'll be right back."

Jo had just opened her door when the phone rang. She picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

- -So, how was dinner?- - Gary asked.

"It was fine. You know, I think you were right about a few things. I should have told you, but I was kinda mad at you and..."

- -I can see that.- -

'What's that supposed to mean?' "Gary, if you're gonna start..."

- -I saw him, Jo. His car is in your lot. You can't lie and say he's not at your house, right now.- -

"Yeah, Dan's here. That's one of the things I wanted to talk about."

- -You're not gonna deny it?- -

"No, I'm not. We're not like that, Gary. So, if he's in my living room, it's none of your business. I'm getting him a robe. He's gonna stay over." 'Girl, shut up! What? Maybe, he'll leave me alone, now!'

There was a long pause before he said, - -Huh. He sure did put in a lot of work, didn't he. I bet the whole time I was at home, he was paying that down payment. Was he the one that got you that jewelry you had on? Naw, don't answer that. You probably earned 'em. Honestly, I think you were too high priced for me. I mean hell, I had to spend a week's pay to take you to that damn concert, and all I got was a quick feel through your clothes. Go head and fuck him. He'll get his money's worth.- -

He hung up with a click. It took her a minute to put the receiver down. She went to the bathroom and looked at her makeup. It was still perfect. She wet a washcloth and wiped at her face. Gary had said it as though he could care less. 'Like he gave me his permission. I don't need his permission. I don't.' She managed to get it all off with a trace of lipstick still on her lips. 'That's better. I don't feel like a whore, do I? I mean, Danny's never bought me anything. He didn't pay for dinner. We're not gonna have sex. I'm not like that. Then, why did Gary say that?'

On her way out, Jo grabbed a really big night shirt out of her drawer, pulled the oversized robe off of its hook, and turned off the light to her room. 

When she got back to Daniel, she must have shown how upset she was, because he said, "What happened?"

"Nothing. You can change in my bedroom, if you want."

"I don't need to go somewhere." He pulled off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. "It's a robe. I'm not taking off my pants, so it shouldn't matter."

He slid the shirt down to reveal a gray sleeveless undershirt as he said, "Unless, you're uncomfortable."

He'd also uncovered a wide tattoo that encircled his arm just above his right bicep. He'd never mentioned having a tattoo, but there it was. What she could see of it was a solid band of black around his arm. There was no ornamentation. She watched it flex and disappear as he pulled the arms of the robe up. The openings fell about five inches short of where they should land and it didn't close in the front. Oversize for her was obviously way too small for him. He raised an eyebrow and said, "I think you look better in my clothes."

She struggled with herself to keep from laughing. 'If I like it, does this prove Gary right?'

"Do you think it's slimming?" He stressed the seams on the shoulders. She let out a low hesitant laugh to please him. It didn't work.

He pulled the robe back off and sighed, "It was Gary, wasn't it?"

She just looked at him.

"On the phone," he prompted her to respond. "It was Gary. I saw him outside when we came in. I figured he'd wait until tomorrow to call, if he didn't follow us up the stairs. I guess I was wrong."

"You saw him?"

"He was in a car with the motor running."

"Is that why you carried me in? For his benefit?"

"No," he said as he moved closer to her. "I did that for me. So, what did you tell him?"

"I told him what I told him before I went to dinner."

"Which was?"

"I don't want to see him anymore. I also told him it was none of his business if you were over here."

He shook his head and slid down sideways onto the couch. "You really want to get me into a fight, don't you?"

"No, I just wanted Gary to hear it from me." 'I didn't even think about Gary going after Danny.'

"So you don't have to break things off. They just blow up."

"There wasn't anything to blow up. He told me to go ahead and do it."

"Very nice of him. I bet he said that kinda like he explains how he likes his latte."

Joanne blinked at him. 'Yeah, that's exactly how he said it.'

"You hurt him. I bet he feels worse than I felt when you told me you were going to the harvest festival with him," Daniel winced at the recollection.

'I thought you didn't care about that.' "Well, that's not my fault. I told him it was over. He just didn't want to believe it."

"You did? When? Tonight?"

"I didn't think I had to. He never called me back that night. He didn't call me the next day. He didn't call me for three weeks... So, I let him go. Yes. When he started to call again, I told him. Repeatedly. I let him go. He should have just stayed gone. When he showed up tonight, I let him go again."

"Then why isn't he gone? Why did he call?"

"I don't know. I just don't know."

Dan thought for a moment. "Call him back."

'Are you nuts?' "What," she hesitated.

"Call him back, and I'll talk to him."




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 14



"Wouldn't that just make him want to kick your ass?"

Dan looked around and found a cordless phone. "Dial the number and I'll talk."

Joanne took the phone from him and tried to convey her confusion.

"Go on. Dial that number. You don't want him coming on our honeymoon."

"Dan..."

"I'm not talking crazy. I'll just do enough to back him off," he gave her a wink.

She dialed the number and handed him the phone. He beckoned for her to come and listen. When she did, she was surprised by his strength as he pulled her in close with his free hand.

- -I figured you'd be callin' back...- -

"Look, Gary. We can play cat and mouse for the next couple days, or you can shut up and listen."

- - Piano guy?- -

"Leave her alone. Don't call. Don't drop by her apartment. Don't run into her on the street. This relationship is over. If I even think you're looking at her funny... Oh no, that's something you'd say," Dan laughed as he looked directly into Joanne's eyes. She felt his fingers trace patterns on her abdomen as he spoke. She cautiously moved her hands around his waist. "Forgive me. I want you to know that I'm not doing this because she hates you. And she does. I'm doing this because you're in the way. You've been in the way for the past two months, and I can't take it anymore. I'm sure this started out as some sorta pride thing, but it's not about that for me. It never was. Okay?"

There was a silence on the line.

"Let me ask you a question. Why do you want her?" 

- -That's none of your damn business.- -

Dan's fingers moved down to her thigh. "Well, I'll tell you why I want her, and maybe you'll get that there's a difference."

Joanne looked away from him as she listened to Gary's anger. - -It don't matter what you want. She belongs with me.- -

"You know, that's exactly what Jerry said," Daniel mused for Jo's benefit. She looked up at him and saw those slate eyes focused on her. 'What is he going to say?'

- -Jerry?- -

"Jeremy Carter. Went to school with me. Great piano player. It doesn't matter, now. You didn't want to find out from her, so you're not intereted. Are you gonna leave her alone, because she told you to?"

- -Look, white boy, she doesn't know what she wants right now. She's so confused, she's with you.- -

"Yeah, she's with me, finally. It took her a while to come around, and I have you and Jesse to thank for that."

- -Fuck you!- -

"Look, do we have an understanding, or do I have to keep an eye out for you?"

There was another silence.

"Please, Gary."

There was a loud click.

Dan looked at the phone, "He hung up on me." He dropped the phone to the couch cushions and put his other arm around her. "I understand what you meant."

"Well," she softly replied more to his cheek than to his ear, "I told you he didn't listen."

"I know, baby," he murmured as he took a deep inhale of her hair. "Let's not think about him, right now."

'That word again. Baby. Did he decide that's what he'll call me? Am I okay with that?'

She shivered as his breath tickled her earlobe, "I'd rather think about sleep. Let's go to bed. I'm tired."

She felt his lips against her ear and his warm body against her. Her skin burned where his hands tighten her shirt against her body. She braced herself in his arms as he moved her toward the hall. "Let's sleep together."

"But, my bed's not big enough for that..."

"Who said anything about me in your bed?" He raised an eyebrow, "Well, how about we talk about that tomorrow. It's the same arrangement as before. I'll take the floor, if you have some blankets."



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 15



When Jesse finally tried to tiptoe her way back into the apartment, she was a bit tipsy. She dropped her keys to the floor and let out a giggle as she slammed the door.

"Ssshh," came from the darkened kitchen.

Jesse paused for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the light. "Joanne. I thought you'd be asleep by now."

Jo yawned and opened the refrigerator. She hadn't been able to get to sleep. She'd pretended to sleep until Dan finally dropped off. Her mind kept going to Daniel, Gary and Jeremy. The Daniel parts were good, but she didn't understand how things had blown up like that. She had to figure something out to get to sleep. "Have fun?" She pulled out a jug of orange juice and poured it into the waiting glass.

"Well, no. Not really. My date left n the middle of dinner, and I ended up at the club. I finally caught up with him, but he wasn't interested."

"That's because Jerry was busy ruining lives," Jo sighed, then took a sip of juice.

"How did you know it was Jeremy?"

"Jeremy, huh? He's been Jerry for the past twenty years or so." The jug went back into the fridge with a bit of force. 'So, you're using his full name? It must be something.'

"Yeah, he and I got to talking. He really likes his full name better."

Jo eyed her. "Hmmm. Like you talked about that ambush you set up?"

"Joanne, don't be like that. How was I supposed to know you hated him?"

"I don't hate him. He hates me. So, you're with Jerry now? What happened to Terrence?"

Jesse glanced inside her purse. "He and I are still together..."

"How can you be together when you have sex with Jerry?" Jo landed a zinger before sitting down with her juice.

"I don't. Not since that first time, anyway. It's different really," Jesse sighed. "He actually..."

"I don't want to hear about it." Jo got up abruptly, put the glass in the sink, and headed out of the kitchen.

"So, where's Hot Chocolate?" Jesse called for her to come back, "Jerry told me you went home with him."

"He's sleeping," she said then added, "on the floor in my room."

Jesse cocked her head, "On the floor? Why isn't he on the couch?"

Jo frowned, "Because it's too small for him."

"Oh," Jesse realized something. "OH. And the floor's more comfortable than his bed at home. Don't tell me, he was really tired."

Jo felt the need to defend herself, "Yeah, he was really tired, and I slept on the bed. Nothing happened."

"I know that. You don't have it in you.  But, what about Gary?"

"What about Gary? Gary's not here. He won't be here any time soon."

"You mean it's over for good? You're not going back to him after you're done with Hot Chocolate? The boy shouldn't even be here. You need to be faithful for that ring..."

'This coming from you?' "Ring? There won't be a ring. He and I are over.  A lot of things will be over at the end of this semester. It's not like we're dating or anything."

"Listen to yourself. You just said it wasn't like you were dating. The boy was all hard for you for an entire semester. And now, you've got that boy," she pointed down the hall, "on the fuckin' floor. You tell me you didn't give them some idea..."

"It's none of your damn business! You'll be out at semesters end, so I don't need your permission for anything."

Jesse looked Jo up and down with her hands on her hips, "Damn, girl. What was that? I almost think you meant that."

"I do. I paid the down payment on this apartment. Pretty much everything, except for the bed you sleep on, is mine. I'm tired of you not listening when I tell you something. You're out."

"And, Hot Chocolate's in?"

"Daniel. His name is Daniel. If he wants to move in here, I won't stop him."

"Shit, Jo. He turned you out, didn't he? It didn't take too long, either. What, did you call Gary while he was all up in that, or is he a one minute man?"

'How did she know I talked to Gary on the phone, tonight?' Jo scoffed, "Yeah, he did me hard and deep. I was brain-washed by the sex. That's why I'm kicking your ass out. It has nothing to do with you fucking Jerry a door down from me, or you letting Gary in without my permission. Did you even think? Gary could have killed me, Jesse."

"He wouldn't do anything to you. You're supposed to be his girlfriend..."

"I'm not his girlfriend! I never was. I went on two dates with him. Two! He just won't go away, and you're not helping your case, right now. You have no idea what it felt like when he opened that door."

"He loves you. He'd never hurt you." 

"The last time a man said those words to me, he did just that," Jo held her ground.

"Jo, don't be melodramatic. Nobody'd..."

"You wanna know who it was? It was Jerry, last night, while you were waiting for him to get back to you! If Dan hadn't been there, he'd have punched me out! You kept asking why I haven't told you anything? What was I supposed to say to you after you sent me to meet that man?"

For the first time that Joanne had known Jesse, the woman was speechless. She sat heavily in a kitchen chair and dropped her purse to the floor.

"What did you think was gonna happen? I was gonna be so happy to see him, I'd pay part of your rent? I hadn't seen Jerry in over four years. That was on purpose. Did you ever ask me about Jerry? No. You have no idea what I went through. And last night. Last night, Jerry walked his way into a dinner with my parents. My dad loves him, so I had to act like it didn't bother me that he was there. And Jerry didn't care. But, I cared. I cared about everything that man has ever done, until he showed me his true colors. I can't have him, or anything involved with him, poisoning my life again. That's why you're out."

"Jo..."

Jo didn't want to look at Jesse as she explained. She turned and put her hands on the half wall that divided the kitchen from the living room. "Even after you forced Jerry on me, I let you stay here, because I'm a nice person, and I didn't want to put you out in the cold. I tried to keep you, even though you've NEVER listened to a word I've said. Then, you let Gary into my house. What made you think it was alright? He couldn't be bothered to call me back, so I didn't bother to call him, either. I told you that. When he started calling me again, I told you what I felt. I wanted to stay away from him, but you let him in my house, anyway. I've had enough of you. Go on off to bed, so I don't have to see you."

Jo slid her hands off of the wall and walked toward her room. She wanted to cry, but a reason not to peered out of the cracked door. Daniel came out into the hall and nearly put his arms around her. She saw him pause and look past her. She turned to see Jesse standing at the door to her room.

"Jessica," he grumbled at her former friend. The woman seemed to shrink.

"I, uh," Jesse floundered. "I just wanted to say ..."

"There's nothing to say, Jesse," Dan rumbled. "You'll be mad tonight, I'll fix you the best breakfast you've ever had, and you'll change your mind."

Jo tried to stop him from being nice. "Dan..." 'He mustn't have heard me kick her out.'

"I think we all need to get some sleep," his voice changed to this odd low thing to emphasize his point. "We'll all see things differently in the morning."

He put a hand to her back and gave her a gentle nudge into her room. She confronted him and raised her hand to his chest as he shut the door. The protest died at the sight of his concerned eyes.

"You're mad, right now. That might change after some sleep. I can see you're functioning on adrenaline. Did you really want to throw her out?"

"Yeah," she said, though the force was gone from her voice.

He pulled her fingers from his undershirt and pressed his lips to her palms. "Beautiful, don't worry about it. Not right now. Let me worry about it."

He sat down heavily on the bed and kept hold of her hands.

*

He hadn't really been asleep when she left the room. The stress level for him that night had been extremely high. The second the light went out, his eyes were wide open. He kept running different scenarios through his mind. What if they'd met that summer day? He was a different person back then. He was a lot like Jerry still is. Would he have done the same thing? No. He wasn't that kind of a guy. Dan couldn't lose the image of Jerry shaking her. She was fine, now. But, that little gasp of air she made when she felt the attack coming made his blood boil. Has she made that sound before? 'Of course, she has. If Jerry hadn't touched her in that way, I wouldn't still see it. I wouldn't see him forcing himself...' Dan couldn't stop the image of Jerry on top of Jo, grinding into her. Did it happen like that? Or was a it a quieter thing with her slowly struggling against his stronger body. But then, his thoughts moved to Joanne in his arms as they made lazy circles on the dance floor. She felt so right against him. He could still feel her body on his fingers. Just the thought of holding her got him a little excited. 'God, please. I don't want to think about it. I can't feel like this. Not right now. I don't want to hurt her.'

He heard the yelling, and figured she might be in trouble for the third time tonight. When he heard Jesse's voice in return, he held back. It wasn't his fight. He knew she was reacting defensively again. He managed to get her back into the room, before she went for Jesse, but that directed her attention to him.

*

She sat down next to him and watched his slow breaths. That tattooed arm bugged her. She thought he didn't have any tattoos. He'd even said that he thought they were a permanent stupid mistake. She reached out a hand and touched it. He let out a sigh and shifted slightly. She moved her fingers from the black line down to his pale white skin.  The warm skin seemed raised in the black area. Jo traced his arm down to the inside of his elbow. He jumped and blinked at her.

"Honey," he breathed as he shivered, "you saw my mistake, huh?"

*

Her soft little fingers went straight for his tattoo, and a shockwave went through his cock. He tried to play it off by shifting his penis so it angled away from her, but she kept making patterns on his skin. When she got down to his elbow, the thing was pulsing in his pants. If he hadn't pulled away from her, he might have had some explaining to do.

"It's not really a mistake. It had to have taken a long time to make it so dark,"she said as her hand went to it again.

He sighed, "It's a cheap solution to a big mistake." He moved his arm and put his hand to Jo's thigh. "You remember when I told you I did some stupid things for Candy?"

"This was one of them?" She moved her hand for it again. It was so wide, it was visible between her fingers. She hadn't seen any difference in the ink pattern, before. Now, she was actively searching. She didn't get very far, since the lights were off and the curtains were drawn. It was something that went against what she thought Dan would like.

"You want to know what this said?" He pulled further away. "It said, 'Candy's bitch' in big black letters. The guy just filled in between the letters and connected the line. It was that or have it burned off with a laser. I didn't have three thousand dollars, so I just opted for the permanent arm band."

He caught her hand as it reached across his body to touch it one more time and pulled her until she fell heavily across his lap. She ended up sideways in a sprawl on his knees. He purred, "That's better. I don't like a lot of space between us."

"Dan," she warned as she tried to right herself, "nothing's happening..."

"I want to, but I won't," he said as he intentionally gripped her upturned ass to make her jump. It gave him just enough momentum to turn her on his lap with her chest close to his. "Honestly, I didn't think I'd be with you, tonight. I'm completely unprepared for a sleep over."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

'She's driving me nuts,' he thought as he crushed her into his chest and kissed her. "It means, I'll do anything you want, beautiful. But, I don't want to be irresponsible."

She raised up and her leg made contact with his firm penis. He let out a little moan as she moved the warm leg over him again. Jo's eyes grew wide and she looked down at the bulge in his pants. "Well, how... I know how, but... you're..."

"It happens," he simply stopped her from speaking with his lips. "This is another reason why we should probably wait. I'm pretty much ready to go whenever you breathe in my direction. I don't want to take any shortcuts with you. I don't want our first time to be on the floor, either. This bed's like a matchbox compared to mine." A flash of her under him made it hard not to grind a little against her leg.

She moved to balance herself on his knees and asked, "But, that's gonna hurt, right?"

"It'll feel pretty good, really," he chuckled as he ran his hand over her ass again. She'd moved so far out that it practically put itself into his hand. He smooched her, "I promise."

"No, if it doesn't go down, it'll hurt," she said around his kiss.

He dropped his arms. She wasn't gonna let this go. "Yeah, it'll hurt, if I stay hard for a long time. I'll go take care of it before that happens. That way it won't happen again for a while, and you won't have to think about it."

"But, Danny, before you go take care of it..." He couldn't see her in the gloom, but he knew she was blushing by the tone of her voice. Her hand went to his abdomen.

"You wan t to see it?"

"I don't know. Well, yeah," was her response. He wanted desperately to see her face so that he could judge which way to take this.

He kissed her forehead, "No, it's okay where it is." 

She gave him a shove, "It's not okay. I... So, is it odd or something?"

There went that front again. He smiled to himself, because she was daring him to expose himself. "Nothing odd about it, baby. Not to brag, but I've been told it's pretty good looking as they go. I just figure now isn't so good a time..."

"Why not? You're here. It's here. Why not just flash me?"

'Flash you?' "How about we do this? You'll see it," he urged her to stand as he moved out from under her.  "But, no more surprises, tonight. We're not going any farther than a look. No touching. Get me?" She stood there with her arms crossed and made a big nod for him to see. Daniel pulled his undershirt off and unbuckled his belt. He stood up and quickly shimmied out of his pants. He felt a little self-conscious, because he knew what he didn't look like. 'What if she doesn't like what she sees? She knows I'm not this body builder. She's seen what I eat. I'm trying not to suck in my gut. I want her to see the real me.'

He stood there with his briefs on. She didn't say anything. She just stood there with her arms crossed. For the second that she turned away, he thought he'd done the wrong thing. Then, he was blinded by the light she switched on. When his eyes adjusted he watched her walk around him. Her eyes scanned his briefs for a moment and she looked into his eyes.

"You're bigger than I thought," came from her lips.

*

Jo wasn't sure why she'd decided now would be a good time to see Dan naked. She needed to be distracted. She knew what relative size he was. She'd danced with him, and he'd carried her partway up to the apartment. In the back of her mind, she'd made him look smaller. He was easier to manage in a smaller package. He'd never really done anything to bring attention to his size. However, in this light, there was no denying it. 'And he's not that hairy on his back. Huh, with all of that stubble, I thought he would be covered in the stuff.' The most hair was in patches on his chest which coalesced into a line down his stomach to the waistline of his briefs. She watched him slouch uncomfortably and look at his toes. He ventured a quick glance up at her when she stopped moving.

'Why are you standing there like you're ugly? You can't possibly think that. I mean, you've got those eyes and those lips. And, you dated Candy, for crying out loud. And your not that skinny guy I thought you were. No, definitely not. And that bulge...'

"You're bigger than I thought," came out before she could stop herself. For a moment, he just looked back at her.

It must have been the right thing to say, because he slowly brightened. He scanned her face and said, "Is that good or bad?" He raised his tattooed arm and scratched his ear. There was something about him that made it okay.

'It's good,' she smiled as she went in for a hug.

"Hey, whoa," he caught her as she made contact with his chest. "I take that as a yes." He put his arms around her and squeezed as tight as he could. "I thought we agreed there'd be no touching."

"Hey! Whose arms are these? And, I'm not touching it. I'm hugging you. You're so warm," she cooed as she listened to his heartbeat. 'No way am I letting you go.'

"You're pretty damn hot, yourself," he purred.



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 16



Daniel Langier opened his eyes. Everything hurt. Well, not everything. Some parts felt pretty good. The pain in his knees and neck overrode most of the pleasure. He wasn't sure how they'd managed to do it, but he and Jo were wedged onto the tiny narrow mattress together. 'Oh yeah, I had to say we wouldn't fit. She had to prove me wrong.' He was bent like a pretzel with his love cuddled up on top of him. He wanted to move to straighten out his neck or legs, but she felt so good. He raised his hand off of her back and touched her hair. The soft springy jumble of curls hid her face. He slowly moved his fingers in and lifted the locks to get a good view of her dreaming face. She pressed her cheek into his chest and let out a smiling sigh.

'Hell, I'm not moving after that.' He let his hand drop on her head and looked up at the ceiling. 'It's taken so long to get here. God, she's beautiful! If she sleeps forever...'

The bedroom door opened quickly and closed loudly. He raised his head and saw Jesse looking him directly in the eye.

"Get up!" The hissed words didn't hold their usual malevolence. "Girl, get your ass up! They're here!"

"Whuh?" Jo raised up and looked sleepily at him. "Danny," she smiled. "I thought you said we wouldn't both fit."

He smiled but responded with a flat, "We didn't. I think my legs are broken."

"Look, didn't you hear me? They're here," Jesse hissed a little louder with her hands waving.

Jo slid off of Dan and hit the floor with her knees. She let out a groan and grabbed her back. The night hadn't been comfortable for her, either.

"Shhhh! Your dad and mom are sitting on the damn couch!"

Dan straightened his body and thumped his head on the wall above her headboard. He didn't let out a sound but he wanted to. 'Shit! They already hate me.'

Jo stood up and pushed at his knees so that his legs straightened out. The pain eased slightly to be replaced by the rush of blood to his lower legs. He clutched at his calves with a silent cry of pain on his face.

She picked up his nearest leg and wrinkled her nose at him. Jo asked the air as she ran her fingers roughly down his leg. "What are they here for?" He couldn't help but let out a low sigh as the pin pricks subsided under her quick pressure. She switched to the other leg and pressed her fingers in to loosen the muscles.

"I don't know. They're your parents," Jesse grumbled. "I told 'em you were sleepin'. I left out that part of it," she pointed to Dan.

"Oh, you don't have to hide him. It's not like we did anything wrong." Jo sounded so calm.

Jesse let out a slow, "Yeah, right," as she slipped back out of the room much quieter than she'd come in.

*

When Jesse left, Jo dropped his leg and turned toward her dresser. 

"Okay, what are we gonna say? I don't know... I need to be dressed," she reasoned as she rushed for her drawers.

Jo pulled off her shirt and dropped her pajama pants before she remembered Dan was still in the room. She turned in her bra and panties to see him watching.

"Don't mind me. I'll just wait here while you sort them out," he half-smiled as he sat at the edge of the bed moving his left foot in slow circles. "Hopefully, I'll be able to walk when you get back."

'You do look better scruffy, don't you,' she mused as she got a shirt and pulled it over her head. His dark brown hair stuck up in all directions and his stubble went partially down his neck. 'He must shave that bit of his neck everyday. Why doesn't he just do the rest?' She straightened her shirt and turned to see him avoid her gaze quickly. 'You were peeking, weren't you?' Joanne remembered the way he'd held her the night before. She thought she'd responded the way that he wanted her to. She'd given him what he'd asked for. It was a little awkward to have a person touch her bare skin in places that hadn't been touched before. The feel of his warm lips on her shoulder had felt too good. When she jumped, she saw the look on his face. She didn't want him to be ashamed. Jo turned to face him and pulled on her jeans. 'I'll let you do more.' She saw his eyelashes flutter. 'Go on, look.' She hopped the last few inches over her hips and zipped them up. She watched his eyes travel up the zipper, across her abdomen then stop as he realized she'd seen him. 'I caught you!' She gave him a smile and walked over to him.

"You know, you can look. It doesn't hurt my feelings if you do," she said as she put her fingers on his scratchy face. "If we're gonna do this, you should be able to look at me." 'And, I'll work on letting you touch me. I mean, it's supposed to be a good thing.'

"Oh, we're doing this," he softly said in that voice just for her. "We're definitely doing this. But, maybe we should do this at some other time?"

"Are you talking about what I think you are?" 'Nah, he's not talking about sex, right now. Huh! Obviously, I am.'

"Are you sure you're ready for this kind of heat? You can just pretend I'm not here, and I didn't spend the night. You don't need to get them frantic, right now. We can do that when you flash that ring."

'What? No crazy talk right now. I can't deal with that and them at the same time.' "Dan..."

"It's planted in your mind, now. You'll see. You won't be surprised at all when it happens. You'll probably say its about time," he smiled as he put his hands around her waist. "You'll see." He gave her a kiss on her chin and a shove toward the door. She 

*

"Baby," Joanne's mother, Karen called out as soon as she saw her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What are you guys doing here. I figured you'd humiliated me enough for one month."

"See, bay. She's fine. We can go home," James grumbled. "We don't need to find anything out. We talked to Jerry, last night..."

A flash of lightning went up her spine. 'What now? What did he say?'

Karen must have seen the look on Jo's face, because she went right into mommy mode. "Honey, Jerry isn't coming to family functions anymore. He says that's why you didn't go to the last reunion. I just thought the internship ran a bit long, but I think I knew in the back of my mind..."

"That's not what happened. I really was busy. Tell him, it's okay for him to visit you. I mean, I'm sure he'd miss you, if you cut him off like that," Jo worked to smile convincingly. "And, I'm not home too often."

"Don't do that," her father snarled. "Don't pretend nothing happened last night." Jo hadn't seen him this mad since she'd managed to decorate a nearly finished painting with little paper dolls. She was only six, but he'd fumed for weeks. He was blaming her, but this was different. "You made your point. You don't need a man. Not one we like, anyway. Why do you have to hurt him?"

"James don't..." Karen tried to warn him off.

"No, bay. I want an honest answer. What could that boy have done to make you walk out like that? You should have seen him. He was miserable."

"Last night, or before then, Dad? I've been avoiding him for a long time. Did you even notice? Did mom tell you what happened last night?"

"I know what happened. That Langier boy took after his father and stole you out from under Jerry's nose."

"Stole me? Please! I never wanted Jerry. So, if he didn't have me, nobody can steal me."

"Listen to yourself. What happened to my quiet innocent little girl?"

Jo looked at her mother for support, but the woman seemed unable to move, let alone speak.

"Aren't you gonna say anything at all?" 'You saw. Why don't you say something?'

"Don't look at your mom. Was it that boy? What makes him better than Jerry? Is he why you treated Jerry the way you did? Is that why you've got this attitude."

Joanne pleaded, "Nothing, mama? Not anything?" 'Don't make me do this, Ma.'

"Joanne Melissa Croix. You look at me and tell me you're still a virgin, and I'll believe you," James faltered toward the end.

Joanne shook her head at this absurd conversation. Her father hadn't even asked how she was before he jumped into this. It was nothing but an attack, because she'd disappointed him. "I'm not a virgin, Daddy. I haven't been for years. I don't know where you got the impression that I still was."

There was no gasp coming from Jo's mom. The poor woman had nothing under control anymore. After the events of the previous evening, she might have suspected. Karen let out a long sigh and frowned. James apparently hadn't been ready for that response. He took a step back.

"You can stop treating me like I'm twelve. If you want to blame somebody for how I acted last night, blame me or Jerry. I'm the one that told Jerry to leave me alone. He's the one that didn't listen. I wasn't 'pure' when Dan met me, so he couldn't have corrupted me. So, don't put this on him. He's been nothing but good."

"Joanne..." Her father tried to say something she didn't particularly care to hear at the moment.

"You know, you're right, Dad. I did treat Jerry pretty bad last night. Maybe, I should have let him hit me. Would that have made you happy? I don't think one punch woulda been enough. Would two or three?"

"Baby..." Her mother finally had something to say.

Jo raised her hands toward both of them and spoke slowly, "I need you guys to leave. I can't do this, right now."

They moved toward the door, but her father didn't want to let it go. "When? When do you want to talk about this, 'cause I want the truth. Nobody's been closer to you than Jerry, until now. So, I really don't have to ask who it was that... did the deed." He shook his head at her in anger, "You had to have liked him well enough, then. What changed? So he got mad. Maybe, because you've just thrown him away like garbage. You owe us and him an explanation. And for damn sure, you are not going to talk to me and your mother like this." 

'I can't believe he's wanting to talk to me about this!' "Why should it matter how I talk to you? Who the hell do you think started this? Who did you leave me with," she said with her hands on her hips. "You left me alone with a man. You had him baby-sit me when I was way old enough to take care of myself. What did you think would happen? You don't want to know, and I'm sure not gonna tell you." She felt the tears sliding down her face. "Why couldn't you just have gone home when I told you to? Why couldn't you be on my side for once?"

Joanne felt a pair of arms wrap around her. "This is why," her mother soothed. "This is the first time you've cried in front of me in a long, long time."

Joanne closed her eyes and shuddered in an attempt to stop herself, but it was way too late. She clutched at her mother. 'Now, you help me?'

"I love you, honey," Karen softly said. "I knew you'd need me, today." Her mother nearly crushed the life out of her. "I'm so sorry I didn't see it. I should have known better. I thought the way Jerry looked at you was the way your father does. I didn't realize how wrong I was until I saw Danny. "

"Karen," her father said from nearby, "let's not say how Jerry feels..."

A bit of her mother's commanding presence returned, "That's all you've been doing, Jimmy. If you paid attention to anything but how you feel, you'd have seen it, too. The boy doesn't love her. He wants her, maybe because Dan does, but he doesn't love her."

Karen pressed a kiss on Jo's face and wiped at what was left of her tears. "We're gonna hang around town. I'm hoping to meet with Danny tomorrow at David's shop. I hope I can see what he's really like. Could you get him there? I don't think he'd come, if I asked. He probably thinks we're crazy. Or, one of us, anyway," Karen looked at her husband. "Until then, we'll let you study or whatever you need to do." Her mother pulled at Jo's lower lid and said, "Why don't you get some sleep, dear. You look exhausted. It's unattractive." Just as the thought that her mother wasn't as superficial as she remembered, she had to go and ruin it with one last crack. 'Yep, that's my mommy. At least she didn't say anything about ugly crying.'

*

She watched them walk down the stairs for a bit before ducking back into the apartment. She let out a sigh, 'Why does my life have to be like this?' Dan peered out from the hallway. When he'd made an assessment of the room, he strolled up and put his arms around her waist.

"So, we're gonna meet the parents, again?" She heard his inviting voice close to her ear as she felt the shock of something on her shoulder. She hadn't meant to jump, but it was a surprise. 'God, I don't know what's wrong with me. I want you to touch me, Dan. I do!' She reached out for his arm, but he'd moved away with his head down. 

Without acknowledging her attempt to get him to do it again, he rubbed his hands together and headed for her cabinets. "So, how about some breakfast?" He'd pulled on his wrinkled dress pants and undershirt, which matched his disheveled hair. He looked in the fridge and pulled out a pint of strawberries then put them back in.

"No. I'm not hungry," she said.

He turned to look at her with a spatula in one hand. "You barely ate, last night. You're hungry. You'll see."

She watched his fluid motions as he cracked the eggs into a bowl and looked through her spice cabinet. 'Wow, he's good at that. Duh! He lives at a coffee shop. Look at that! He knows where everything is. No, don't look at his ass. Well, it is pretty nice. I'm not sure what to gauge it with though. Jesse says it's fine. Jesse. Shit! What am I gonna say to her? Maybe, we can work something out, until she can move out.'

"What?" She looked up from her thoughts to see Dan looking at her. "Do I have something back there?"

"Sorry," she blushed. "I hope you don't mind."

"You think I mind? Yeah, I mind." He'd seemed a bit angry in those words, but smiled as he set the pan on the stove and whisked the eggs.

"Why? I thought we were straight on this. It's okay for you to look at me..."

"It's not. Not right now. I shouldn't look at you like that," he said to the bowl.

"Then, how should you look at me. I mean, if you're not attracted, you wouldn't look like that."

He dropped his whisk into the bowl of eggs and faced her. "Truthfully?"

She nodded at him to continue. He was definitely upset and she wanted to know the real reason why.

"I'm having trouble being this close to you. I want to do things. Lot's of things that would take a lot of time and privacy. But, we're not ready for that. Let's just say it's better if I don't look, and you don't either, for the time being. First, I feed you. Then, we can sit down and talk about what happens next with a table between us."

She thought, 'He's being crazy, again. Not ready? He wants me. I know that, but why is he being so strict about how he gets me? I mean, after last night, I thought it would be okay if I let myself look at him in that way. I don't want him to treat me like that.'

He went back to the whisking for only a few seconds and glanced up at the look on her face. 'See, you're looking, right now!' He set the bowl down on the counter and walked over to her.

"Would you still want me, if I'm not so much of a gentleman?" He didn't wait for the answer. Dan scooped her up into his arms and pressed a kiss on her. She clutched at his arms for a few seconds before she pulled him closer by his neck, "Yes. Absolutely."

He rested his forehead on hers, "That's better. Little tighter?" He eyed her as he pulled her to his chest. "Yes, much better." He pressed his rough face to her cheek. 

She kicked her legs slowly as they hung over his left arm and asked, "What am I doing in the air?" 

"You said I could carry you around. I'm taking you up on it," he purred as he moved her toward the counter.

*

Even after the parental ambush, she was the most steady thing he'd ever seen. 'I don't like it when you shy away like that. I'll fix you breakfast, and we can go to my place, so I can get you out of your pants. Maybe, out of your pants. Not forcing it. No flinching. I gotta see you naked sometime!'

"That was last night, when I saw you struggle up those stairs. I didn't think you'd heard me," she grinned.

He set her carefully on the edge of the counter and leaned into her. "I listen to everything you say." 'And everything you don't.' "I just choose to disregard some of it, for both of our benefit."

She frowned playfully at him and took his face in her hands, "Let me down, please?"

"What did you say? I didn't quite hear that," he grinned.

"Danny, honey," she purred. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as she ran her little fingers over an earlobe. 'Christ, woman, I was only playing.' "Could you let me down so we can get some food together. I'm hungry."

"Absolutely, mi lady. But, you must pay the toll," he murmured less than an inch from her lips. "With what will we be pay..."

She bridged the gap with her soft, warm lips. He easily parted them and tasted her tongue. He ran his hands over her back and deepened his entry to her mouth. Her breath mingled with his as he felt her hands move up his chest. She let out a little moan, and he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. He flinched away from the second blow. "Fuck!"

Jesse held a wooden spoon in her hand like it was a club, "Get offa her, you pervert."

Dan easily moved Jo to the ground and faced Jesse for his safety.

"Good morning to you, too, Jesse," Jo grumbled.

"Ya'll are disgusting. I should go back to my room."

"Just for that, you won't be getting any pancakes. I'll make scrambled eggs and toast," Dan eyed her as he turned the heat on under his pan.

Jo let out a sigh, "We need to talk. Now."

Jesse huffed, "I know I'm out. It don't mean I have to watch the white boy slobber all over you."

Jo cringed. She didn't think Jesse was racist. The girl was doing that for effect. Daniel didn't bother to turn around and said, "I've been called worse than that, cher. You'll have to do better than that to get a rise out of me, this morning."

Jo pointed toward the living room. Jesse ducked her head and stomped over to the couch.

*

Jo stood there for a moment, in front of Jesse. 'Calm and collected.'

"Jesse, I'm sorry about yelling at you last night. I was angry."

Jesse eyed her, "I know. Doesn't mean I'll be cool with him in here."

"You don't have to be cool. You don't have to be rude, either. You don't even need to understand. I don't get it myself." She let out a breath for emphasis.

Jesse crossed her arms under her breasts, "Joanne. It's just. I thought you were different, but you're not."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The man's cooking you breakfast. You were in bed with him. It's just what I would do."

"Huh?"

"Look. I know I've been a bit too strong, but I thought that's what you'd need to act normal."

'She thought I was strange?' "Normal? I've always been normal..."

"But, you've never even once shown the least interest in any of those guys I showed you. I can't believe the way you looked at Hot...Danny just now. After all of that work, all I had to do was show you a white guy?"

"It's not about Danny being white. It's about Danny being Danny."

Jo knew that Jesse was completely confused. She didn't quite understand why she liked him. 'He was so interested in me. It only made me interested right back.'

She sat down next to her friend and sighed, "Do you have the faintest idea how many times I sent that man away before I let him kiss me? It took months. At first, I couldn't even think of any man touching me, let alone kissing me. He took the time to let me know I was worth the wait. I believed him, Jess. Then, I found out about Candy." She let the silence hang between them before she continued, "He was embarrassed to tell me what was really going on."

Jesse frowned at her, "I told you what was going on."

"You left out the part about her sleeping around," Jo frowned right back.

"So, what. He wasn't keeping his legs closed, either."




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 16



"I know about that, too, so its not gonna change things," she said as she gave Jesse a shove with her elbow.

"Really? What if I told you I fucked him?"

'She's really wantin' to get me going, ain't she.' "I'd know it wasn't true, because you said you wanted to do him, once. Even if you had, I get this funny feeling that I don't have to worry about that. Not anymore."

"Hmmm," Jesse grumbled under her breath. "I can't stand it. I knew this was gonna happen. I saw it coming, but I couldn't stop it. Terrence told me you two were like magnets. You were coming together some time, and I should get out of the way before I got crushed."

'Alright, Terrence. The man's got something going upstairs.' "Well, you shoulda listened," Joanne sighed.

Jesse gripped Jo's arms, "Don't you get it? You're not supposed to put the permanent look on the first guy that gets you off. You're not supposed to end up with the first guy you fall for. You're supposed to shop around. You're gonna go down and hard when this thing ends."

"Who says this'll end?" Both women looked at Daniel leaning over the half wall. He'd obviously been listening for some time, though he didn't seem bothered at all. "We haven't even started. Eggs are getting cold." He turned and snatched toast out of the toaster.

Jesse continued with her hands on Jo's arms, "It's just wrong the way you look at each other."

"I told her that, myself, not ten minutes ago," Dan offered from the kitchen. "She said if I was attracted, I should look."

"So, you get it," Jesse stood up and walk to the half wall. "You shouldn't be lookin at her like that 'cause you're not gonna be together."

"Whoa. I never said that. I said, I shouldn't be thinking what I was thinking, 'cause we need some time before I ask her."

"Ask her what?" She gripped the top of the half wall.

Dan turned and looked at Joanne. She knew what he wanted to ask. She knew he'd wanted to be with her from that first time he introduced himself.

"He wants to marry me," Jo made light of it, but she saw it in his eyes right now. It was that silent question that he'd been asking for months. She looked away from him. 'And, it doesn't seem so crazy, anymore.'

A loud breath went into Jesse's lungs, "This is so backwards. Take her out on some dates. Get a couple nuts out of the way. Breakup a few times, then ask her to marry you."

"I don't want to date her," Dan said as he set the plates down. "I don't want to pretend to be somebody I'm not. I want to treat her the way I'll treat her the rest of my life."

Jesse raised her hands over her head, "Lord save me before I strike him dead right here."

"Jesse, don't," Jo moved to defend him.

"No, I can't believe a god damn word out of his mouth. Nobody says shit like that. Nobody." The woman's hands slapped down to her thighs in a loud crack.

"Dan does," Jo sighed.

A series of guttural noises escaped Jesse's lips before she said something coherent. "Look, how about I leave and you can fuck." She hopped up and moved for the table. She gave Dan a glare as she scraped a heap of eggs onto a piece of toast and walked back to her room. "You'll get it over with, and I'll stop hearin' his bullshit, 'cause he'll be gone." 

*

'Stupid cow.' Dan shook his head in frustration. "Hey, let's eat. I promise I won't ...fuck you before I feed you," he smirked. "Besides, she'll be back out with a better attitude."

Joanne eyed him. "How do you know?"

"The eggs are another one of my specialties. I give her ten minutes tops. Your seat, mademoiselle," he waved as he pulled out her chair.

"Mmm," he murmured, as he took his first bite. He'd outdone himself, this time. They had a few bites of their late breakfast in peace, until Jesse came back in.

"What the hell did you put in this?" She was sheepish.

"It's a trade secret," was all he said.

"Damn, it's good," she grumbled as she sat down in front of the plate she'd grabbed the eggs from. She made another sandwich and took a big bite. "So, you cook, huh?"

He tried not to sound sarcastic, "I do live in a restaurant."

"Hmmm. Well, at least you won't starve." She chewed a bit and looked between the two. "So, what's the real reason you haven't fucked, yet?"

Dan tried not to gag on his coffee.

"Oh, look at that. Hot Chocolate's all red," Jesse mused. "Now, answer the question. Can't get it up? Got some sorta injury overseas. Those whores over there give you somethin' dirty?"

'Damn it! Why can't she just shut the hell up?' "Uh," was all he could come up with. He motioned for Joanne to not interfere, cleared his throat, and took a few good breaths.

"Come on, boy. No time to think."

"It's up to Jo." 'She knows that. It's on her timetable.'

"Mmhmmmm. Really?"

Jesse turned on Joanne. "So have you seen his cock, yet?"

Jo's face changed into an embarrassed grimace, "I don't think..."

"Yeah, you haven't. Both of you are hopeless."



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 17



"Both of you are hopeless."

The words stuck with her as she looked down at her hand in his. She couldn't help but avoid the gaze of the few people on the street in front of the coffee shop. 

"What's wrong?" He flexed his fingers in her vice grip.

"Uh, nothing," she said. 'I'm not sure. It's just, we're walking together. Together. We've done it millions of times. Why am I so nervous? I mean, we're TOGETHER. How am I supposed to act?'

"Okay, baby. If that's what you want to say, I'll buy it," he purred out of the side of his mouth.

They went through the open doors left behind by a group of people headed out from lunch. Dan caught the door and guided her through as he searched the room.

"Pop," he smiled as he caught sight of his father clearing a table.

"Son, I'm glad to see you've decided to make an appearance," he said as he approached with a tray of mugs under his arm.

"Pop, I'm sorry. I..."

He chuckled, "No need to explain. I'd pick a beautiful woman over you, too. So, Joanne, am I forgiven?"

"Forgiven?"

The man smiled and placed a hand on the table. "After spending the evening putting out a rather substantial fire, I realize that what happened was partially my fault."

Joanne tried to stop the apology, "Oh, no. That blow up was set to go whether you wanted to stop it or not. Um, but thank you," she blushed, "for getting Danny to go, last night."

"It was my pleasure. Have you eaten? I'm sure I haven't done a terrible job. The display case is nearly empty."

"Oh, we've had something at Jo's place," Dan brushed off. "I'm just here to check in. Would you mind entertaining my intended for a few minutes?"

"Intended? Daniel," David frowned playfully. "You need to..."

"What I need, is for my father to treat her very well. She's someone I trust and care a lot about," Dan squeezed Joanne's hand. "It may mean something later."

David chuckled again, "Well, I won't lecture you about inopportune proposals, because you haven't..." 

No one could miss the look that passed between them. David breathed, "Or, have you?"

Daniel curved his body toward her, "I've been asking for months. Haven't I, babe?"

"Yeah, he has. It's no big deal. He doesn't mean it, really. I mean, if he did, he wouldn't just blurt it out like that. He's the kind of guy who has to plan. Right?" The thought had just struck her. Daniel hadn't entered her life in a small way. If he really wanted to marry her, he'd do it in an equally noticeable way. He was planning something. This something would be huge and probably embarrassing. She looked right back into those deep blue eyes and saw him nod slightly.

David studied her face for a moment before he said, "Dieu, garcon. Intelligence and beauty. She knows you too well, already. You should marry this one."

They all laughed. Danny said a careful, "I know that. Just watch her, will you?"

"Anything," he nodded as Dan walked into the kitchen. "I have this sudden feeling, my dear," he put a hand to his heart.

"Are you alright," Joanne took his arm and attempted to move him to a chair. 'He does look a bit pale.'

She couldn't budge him. "I'm just fine. I just have this strange feeling that he's already got the wheels in motion. It's only been a day."

'No, it's been about six months.'

Joanne helped David clear and reset the tables until Dan came back down. For some reason, she'd thought he would be changing his clothes, but he hadn't. He strolled over to her and said, "Merry Christmas," as he handed her a small box. She looked down at the long thin box in her hand and sighed in relief, 'It's a bracelet, or necklace, or something.' She opened it to reveal a lavender stoned bracelet. It sparkled even in the dark shop. 'Whoa. This is gorgeous. It probably cost him a chunk of change.'

"Danny, you shouldn't have..." She made a move to give it back.

"Oh, but I did. I picked it out to match the dress you..." He frowned. 'The one Candy tore up.' "Well, we'll just have to buy you another one. Let's try it on."

He slid it gently from its restraints and ran his fingertips over her wrist as he fastened it. He balanced her arm in his hand as he looked down at the stones.

"They really make your skin beautiful. Not to say that you didn't have beautiful skin, before. I mean, even under fluorescents, you had this..." He was prattling on in a sort of monotone.

'Wow,' she looked into his eyes as he continued to talk as they left the building. 'He's really into me right now. I better cut him off or we'll be doin' something right here, right now.'

"...So, I figure, if they don't kill me, I can take you out on a 'date' date." He cringed, "Though I don't want to consider it that, and I hate saying that Jesse's right. But, I want you to know you're making the right choice, if we do." 'I missed something major. Maybe, he'll hint at it, later?'

*

'God! Shut up, man!' Dan just couldn't help himself. It was like verbal diarrhea. He'd been saving up all of these thoughts and plans for nearly a month. Joanne was taking it pretty well. She was looking at him with those big gorgeous eyes. Or, he'd talked her into a walking somnolence. They'd gotten to the sciences building and were making their way through the lobby. He shook his head and stopped.

She showed that she'd been paying attention, "A date would be good. You want to go to the movies?"

"It doesn't matter where we go. I just want you to know who I am," he said as he led her up to the entrance.

"But, I know who you are. Your dad said so."

"If I asked you, right now, would you say yes?"

"No," she smiled, "I'm not ready for marriage. Besides, I know you've got something cooking."

He bent down and looked directly into her eyes. "My point, exactly. I'm not gonna ask again, until I'm sure you're ready. I didn't kiss you until you were ready..."

"I thought I kissed you."

"I let you kiss me. If I'd have gone by my program, I would have put you over my shoulder and taken you upstairs months ago. But, I didn't, because I wanted it to be right for both of us," he touched her cheek with a fingertip. She was so open and attentive with those brown eyes. 'God, I want to jump you right now.' He regrouped by turning away from her. "Hey, why don't I show you my office."

"This isn't the way to the office," she said as they rode the elevator passed the fourth then fifth floor.

"Yes, it is. Grad students are either in the basement or in the attic. I used the other office only when you were coming in," he explained.

He walked her down a dark quiet corridor to a small office with a slanted ceiling. A desk with a divider took up the majority of the space. 

"That side's mine. I share the room with Padha, so I try to do most of my work at home. She's got kids, and she studies here a lot."

In the soft light of the afternoon, Dan watched Joanne inspect the room. He wasn't sure what she was looking for, but he wasn't about to change anything. She turned and looked at him, "You can see the parking lot from here."

"Yeah. You usually park on the first row in," he leaned partially over the desk to look through the tiny window. 'And you look around as you walk.'

"Really?" She leaned in on the other side of the divider. "You can see my spot from here?"

"I used to watch you check out the lot," he said to the side of her face. "You wouldn't get out of the car until you were sure there was no one close by."

He watched her chin tilt down to her chest. 'Okay. I did it, this time.'

"I'd just glanced out. I wasn't looking for you," he said. 'Not at first, anyway.' She stared down at the pavement.

"So, how about that date?"

***

Dan couldn't seem to get anything right except for the hot chocolate. He'd had a few compliments about it filter into the kitchen. He wasn't thinking of anything, but his meeting with the parents. This time, he had to be perfect. If he wasn't he'd have to figure out another way to win them over. "I intend to marry her. I Intend to marry her. I intend to Marry her," he muttered under his breath as he spread the filling on the sandwich wraps. 'Is that too forward. Should I just say she's a very special girl? That sounds terrible. I'll just stick with the truth.' He put the sun dried tomatoes and artichokes hearts in equal distribution across the long flat bread. The parents would be there to interrogate him any minute. 'Jo said they'd be here at noon. It's noon. Where the hell are...'

"Boy," David snapped his fingers in front of Daniel's nose. "Joanne's mother is here. She wants to talk to you. Wipe your face. You've got some mustard or somewhat there."

Dan smeared at his face with a towel. His face was still raw from the nervous shave he'd given himself. He felt the cut on his jaw and pushed his way out to the restaurant. He didn't want to seem over eager, so he slowly approached. Mrs. Croix stood next to the sales counter holding a big mug. Dan offered his hand and she pressed her fingertips into his palm gently.

"James isn't here. I think it'd be better for us to talk first," she said as he directed her to the back where it was quieter.

He pulled out her chair as she set down her mug. She looked up at him and made a graceful seat in front of him. He got to his chair and put his hands on the table.

"I'm glad you came," he smiled. 'Damn it! My voice nearly cracked.'

"I'm glad I'm here, too. Let's drop the formalities, Dan." She raised an eyebrow. "I can see a speech rolling around in your head. Forget about it. I'm not the one you need to convince."

"Uh, okay," he muttered. 'This lady's gonna be tough.'

Her hands arranged in her lap, she started the interrogation, "You probably think you want to marry her, right?"

"Well, yes. I do."

She took a sip out of her mug and looked him in the eye again, "What kind of means do you have?"

"Uh, I have a partnership in the shop. I'll be finishing my thesis in May. I have a few offers in the area. I could also get a doctorate. Professor Samuels is basically trying to get me to go for..."

Mrs. Croix raised her hand in front of his face. "Okay, where would you live?"

"I'd buy her whatever she wants, wherever she wants it," Dan said. He hadn't really thought about it, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

"Really? Even if it's across the country?"

Dan nodded.

"You seem like you have your life planned out. You could have any young thing on campus. Why my daughter?"

Dan relaxed. He'd planned for that question, "Because, she's smart, beautiful..."

Karen waved a hand at him, again. "No, not the answer you've been working on. Why did you decide to take an interest in the first place? Why Joanne? Why not this Candace, I heard about last night?"

"She caught me," just came out of his mouth. 'What the hell's that supposed to mean. Say something else! Say something,' he chided himself, but just sat there.

"She caught you?" Karen Croix had that same curious frown that her daughter had.

"It was like...I was hit by lightning. Yeah. I couldn't think of anything to say at the time. I just stood there like an idiot with my hands on the counter over there." Dan pointed to the back of the espresso machine. "I'm not that sort of a person. I can usually say what I want people to hear. I generally have something to say, but there was nothing coming out."

"So, you were attracted to her?"

'Damn straight, she was hot! Not a good thing to say.' "Yes, and no. Let me tell you a story." Dan looked into Karen's eyes and explained to her about the first time he'd seen her in the shop, and the time that Joanne had fallen for Samuel's trap. He followed up with the months of hot chocolate before he introduced himself.

"So, you didn't make yourself known until then? And in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, my Jo was so 'stunning' to you that you decided you wanted to marry her?"

"She could have been in a sack for all I cared," Dan sighed as he looked at his hands.

"You really are crazy."

Dan laughed, "She tells me that every time I ask her to marry me."

She let out a quiet laugh. "You ask her to marry you. Right. Explain to me why you haven't said this kind of stuff to her?"

"I have, honest."

Karen blinked at him, "If you had, she would have written you off as crazy and went on her way." 

Dan sighed, "She did. It took me a long time to convince her that I was serious about her. With my ex making things hard, it was pretty much impossible to talk to her without giving her the wrong impression. Night before last was the first time we've been able to talk freely in about a month. I'm glad we're finally together. I get that I'll be working hard to convince you..."

"You don't have to. It's all over your face," she smiled up at him. "It would have been a lot faster, if you had just told me you loved her."

The statement rocked him back in his seat. 'I haven't told her. She should know, but I don't want to say it and have her run away.' "I..."

"That's why Joanne didn't write you off," Karen pointed at his face.

"I don't know..."

"It's in your eyes. You don't even have to say her name, do you? You get this far off look."

He wasn't sure what the safe thing to say was. He sat back and looked at his hands.

"Are you going to knock her up?"

"Huh," his voice cracked. He cringed.

The woman was looking at him in a determined way as she said, "You're a grown man. You know what I mean. Are you having safe sex with my daughter."

"Uh, no. I mean, no sex at all. We're not ready for that. Not yet, anyway," he stammered.

"Either, you're a good liar, or you're actually waiting on her. Good. You should wait. I don't need to be a grandma just yet. The way you act around that girl, you'd have her giving birth on graduation day, wouldn't you? Hands off, until then, you hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am," he was sitting upright. "Hands off."

Karen smiled, "I know you'll do what ever you're gonna do, but let her decide. If you're still okay in May, we'll try and straighten out her father."

That magnetic smile broadened as he realized, 'She said we were okay.'

Karen looked down at the mug. "You know, I have to say, this is the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted. Who makes this? I'll have to tell them something."

He smiled to himself, "You're drinking stage one of my introduction plan."

"Introduction plan?"

"It worked for Jo, so it'll probably work on Mr. Croix, wouldn't it?"

Mrs. Croix raised an eyebrow at him.

*

Joanne watched him lying in his bed. He'd invited her over, but she knew he was tired. He'd walked through the kitchen and up the stairs unaided, but the moment he sat down on his bed, she could tell he was ready to sleep. Her trip to the bathroom gave him the chance to succumb. 'God, he's fine. Why don't you just go over there and, uh... Do what? Think, Jo. Think! He's all experienced. He'll probably tell you you're doing it wrong whatever you do. No, that's not Dan.' She smiled at his exhausted expression. They'd gone on dates for the past ten days straight. They'd gone to the movies, then the museum, strolled the park with a picnic basket, and got thoroughly soaked through on the way back from the horse farm to their car. 'It's been like you want to hurry up and do all these different things to make me like you.' She lay down next to him and watched his chest rise and fall. 'But, what do I do, now? I want to be whatever he wants. If he tells me, I'll try to be it.' She closed her eyes and put a hand on his chest. 'Just tell me what you want.' 

She felt a hand more over her arm and held still. "Honey? I'm sorry. I'm so, so tired. Stay the night?"

"I thought you said we should just date," she reminded him.

"We should," he sighed, "but I don't want to."

She put her nose to his and kissed him, "I don't want to do this, either. Can't we just fool around a little...for practice?"

He smiled warily, "Practice? I thought you wanted our first time to be special."

"I do. It's just..." She looked away from him with that warmth in her cheeks. 'You're making me feel things, and I think they're good. I just don't know if they are. You won't let me find out.' Joanne was getting a bit frustrated. Dan hadn't touched her since they'd said they would date. As a matter of fact, he would avoid a situation where they would be alone.

He moved his hand up to her shoulder, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have suggested you stay. Maybe, you should get away from me before I get anymore ideas." He rolled his back to her.

"Dan." 'Anytime with you is special.' He looked back at her with half closed eyes. "Couldn't I just be here next to you? We wouldn't have to do anything. We've done that before. I want to fall asleep with you."

*

It was obvious from the look on her beautiful face. Dan hadn't realized that he'd been pushing her away. He hadn't meant to give her the impression that he didn't want her. To the contrary, his urges were starting to get the better of him. Just that morning, he'd caught a glimpse of her as she took off her jacket and sat down for class. It wasn't even some special thing, she'd done. It was just because she was within his line of sight. She'd looked up at him and nodded. It was all she preferred to do. She didn't want anyone to know they were together. Even if it wasn't technically against the rules, she wanted to keep her distance. Then, she'd snuggle up to him on his couch and watch television until he got too hard and had to excuse himself to take care of it. He'd caught himself squeezing her thigh the next night. She didn't act like it bothered her, but he'd told her mother he'd wait. Dan invited his dad to watch TV after that.

They were gonna wait if it killed him.



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 18



Dan looked up from his work to see Joanne enter his part of the office he shared with Padha. She smiled at him which caught him off guard. They'd been nothing but civil since they had agreed they would keep things quiet until after finals. He wasn't sure why he complied with that stupid idea, right now. It was a rough road leaving her alone all day long. At least, when they were alone at night, he could feel her and anticipate the next step. He would follow Mrs. Croix's orders to the letter, if it killed him. The closest they'd come in so many weeks was this morning. He didn't wake up before Joanne and take care of his morning wood. He'd been dreaming of her warm body on top of him in his bed when she'd touched it. 'God, it felt so good to have her hand wrapped around it.' He'd managed to dislodge her and get to the bathroom before he erupted all over the bed. It had been so long since he'd felt anyone else touch him there. He'd been so ashamed, he'd dressed as quickly as he could and said a quick good bye.

Dan wasn't sure why she was there in the office right then, because he'd called and told her he was going over to her apartment in approximately twelve minutes. She dropped her pack heavily on the floor and unzipped it. Without even a hello, she pulled out a bag and set it on his desk.

"Happy Easter," she whispered and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

He looked at the white bag with little ducks and flowers on it and protested, "Easter? That's not for another couple..."

"Just open it," she frowned playfully at him. He did like the way she did that. 'Just one more month, beautiful. One more month until I corrupt you.'

He opened the bag to find a bunch of fake grass. He fished around to find a little card, a bottle, and a box. The bottle and box were wedged firmly at the bottom, so he pulled out the card.

"I'll see you later," she said quickly as she hefted her backpack and was gone before he could read the card. He stared after her. 'She's up to something. What is it? Did she feel bad about this morning? I'm the one that should be embarrassed.'

"Wow, Dan. If my husband saw how you look at me, he'd have to kill you." Daniel hadn't even noticed Padha standing in the doorway.

"Sorry, Paddy. I was just spacing off a bit," Dan said as he wiped at his eyes for emphasis.

"It's so cute the way that you do that. Does she know?"

"Does who know what?"

Padha tssked, "Daniel Langier. I saw Joanne leave this room. I see you in lecture boring a hole in the back of her head. I thought you'd die when you found out she'd switched her times with me. If you haven't said something to her yet, you're pathetic."

"She knows, okay? I'm trying to keep it quiet..."

She let out this loud high pitched giggle, "Hee, hee, hee. Everybody knows. You get all soft and not Danny when she's around. Dr. S has a pool on when we'll see your first PDA. Why don't you just ask her out, already, so I can get some money."

"Because, I don't want to date her," he grumbled. "It would be awkward." 'And, I sure don't want to show you people what we have.'

"Then, marry her and get it over with," she laughed as she focused on some papers at the top of the pile on her desk. 

"If it was up to me, we'd have had three kids by now," he joked right back at her and opened the flower covered card.

The message was in her small precise letters, "After careful consideration, I think we should be having sex. Bring this stuff and we will."

Dan's jaw dropped open. He read it again.

"I think we should be having sex," jumped out at him, though she didn't write it any differently than the rest of the message.

She hadn't signed it. He leaned back so far in his chair that he nearly fell over. Joanne hadn't acted any differently than she had this morning. He thought they'd gone over this, before. They were going to wait.

Padha caught his attention, "You okay, over there, Dan?"

"Uh," he couldn't think.

"You're so flushed, all of a sudden. Are you having a stroke?"

He shook his head no and stood up. "I'm gonna go." He took a step and remembered that there were other things in the bag, and he should probably take them with him. He snatched up the bag, shoved the card in, and ran for the elevator.

'I gotta talk her down. Me, too. Fuck! My jacket! She takes the stairs. She's still in the building. She'll still be in the building.'

When the doors opened on the first floor, he scanned the crowd for her. She wasn't there. He ran out to the steps and she was at the bottom with one foot on the sidewalk.

"Jo!"

She turned and looked at him.

"What's this supposed to mean?" He gripped the bag out toward her.

"It's pretty simple. I didn't write a bunch," she flatly said and turned back around.

"Hold on there, miss," he took her arm and moved her onto the small patch of grass that was left from the last rain. "You don't just do something like this on the spur of the moment."

"No, I don't. I didn't think I'd ever have to," she sighed as she looked up at him with those sparkling brown eyes, "but I did."

She looked away from him and blushed. 'She wants to. But, we talked about this! And her mom said... I want to, so bad. And, she wants to. She wants to. I'm not getting the wrong signals, am I?' He pulled her close and smelled her hair. She moved to brush her cheek against his ear as her soft breath danced over his neck. 'Okay. That is a definite response.' "Well, I guess I missed a few signals, huh," he let go of her. "What do I say to that? How about tonight? Seven? My place?"

"Uh, okay. What should I bring?"

"I'd say absolutely nothing," he smirked to hide nervousness as he backed toward the building, "but it'd probably be a bit chilly."

*

'What the hell have I done?' Joanne rolled her shoulders in against the wind as she walked toward her car. 'Oh, god. What have I done? I didn't think he'd agree so easily. He was all resolved and everything this morning.'

Joanne had been slowly going crazy. There was this sensation in her tummy that made her want to get close to him. When she did try to make a move, she couldn't cross the line he'd put up. She knew he felt the same way because she'd seen his erections. She wasn't sure why he wasn't interested in doing something about them. When he did get hard, he would move away and pretend it wasn't there or apologize. For the last few mornings, she'd been building up the courage to touch his penis. It had been more to satisfy her curiosity than to wake him up. But, the moment her fingers closed around it, he'd jumped up and ran to the bathroom. She wanted to see it. She had to, or Jesse would be right. 'We're not hopeless.' She wanted to take the relationship somewhere. 'Maybe this is the stupidest idea ever, but at least I'll see if it's more than curiosity.'

She looked around the lot. 'Why am I still doing this? Mom said he's in New York.' She looked up toward the building. She wanted to know which window was Daniel's, but they all looked the same. She put the key in the lock.

"So, how's it going," a voice made her jump three feet off of the ground. Gary smiled at her as he moved in. "Thought you'd be tired a him by now. I heard from Jesse, you've been at his place most nights."

"Well," she gripped her keys in her palm and looked toward the closest door on the building, "I'm taking things slow." She hadn't really taken a good look at the oak across the street.

"Slow, huh. Why isn't he walking you out to your car?"

'He's been watching us?' "He can see me from his window," she tried to make it sound like he was doing it now, though she knew he wouldn't be back up there by then.

"Relax, girl. I'm not gonna hurt you. We weren't like that. I get that I didn't pay that much attention to what you were wantin. I thought I'd tell you that I know I was wrong to get mad at ya." He seemed to slouch and look away from her. "You should have kept your distance, because I wasn't just with you. When I left, I kinda got into a little trouble with a girl. She's havin my baby close to Christmas. When I came back, I was kinda trying to deny the fact. You didn't let me forget about it. Even though you didn't know what was happening, you held me accountable, and that made me mad. When I saw you'd moved on with Dan, I took it out on you, instead of letting it go. I'm sorry."

He moved closer and put his hands on her arms. "I'm glad we didn't do anything, because I'd hate to stop you from going for your goals. You've got this lightning fast mind, girl. Use it." He pressed a kiss to her cheek and backed away. "I'll be seeing you around."

She smiled at him and said, "Yeah, Gary. We'll see each other again."

As a parting shot, Gary said over his shoulder, "And, tell that man he needs to hold your hand."

"What?"

"I go by Langier's. It's stupid how you stand so close, but you don't hold hands. You're together. Be together," he nodded at her as he stepped onto the sidewalk.

All she could do was wave back. 



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 19



Dan wasn't sure what to wear. He'd been very comfortable in how he dressed around Jo, until today. 'Why not just wear normal Dan stuff? She liked it yesterday. But, yesterday, we weren't going to have sex. I'd had some ideas about what we'd do, but this is so sudden.' He'd been waiting until the end of the semester to even think about approaching the situation. He settled on a long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of jeans. 'Yeah, not too formal.' He picked up the phone and dialed her number. It rang. It rang again. 'Come on, pick up.' There was the click of someone answering.

- -Hello,- - a quiet voice said.

"Hi, Jo. I'm gonna pick you up, instead of you coming over. We're going out."

- -Out? I thought we were gonna...- -

"Tonight won't just be about that. I'm taking you someplace special later. But, first, I'm gonna show you off a little."

There was a pause before she responded, - -What do I wear?- -

"A t-shirt and jeans will suffice."

*

The buzzer never sounded to give Jo warning he was on his way up. She'd taken what felt like years to pick out one shirt. She didn't know how Jesse ever left the house. Maybe, it was because this would be her first real...'Hook up?' The jangle of keys let her know that Jesse was home. When the door opened, Dan smiled, "Look what I brought with me." Dan was a mix tonight. He'd obviously taken care to shave his face and get his hair just right, but he had on an old shirt she'd seen a hundred times before and a ratty pair of jeans. She greeted him with a hug and held the door open for Jesse. Her roommate frowned but didn't say anything. 

"I thought we'd get a burger , then we'd go dancing ..." He trailed of as he nuzzled her ear.

A low grumble came from Jesse's direction. The two looked at her as she dropped her bag heavily and opened the refrigerator.

"What," Dan raised his head and questioned her, "I thought you wanted us to date."

"You don't dress like that to go dancing," she popped a grape in her mouth, "and you don't just tell a girl what's gonna happen?"

"You do, if you don't have anyone to impress," he frowned. "The only one I'd ever want to take notice is right here." He pulled Joanne in closer and pressed a kiss on her forehead. She responded by putting her arms around his waist.

"Ugggh! I thought you guys weren't into that. What's making you all touchy feely all of a sudden?" Jesse growled as she eyed them both closely. "Nope. Still haven't seen it have you?"

Jo blushed, "Yeah, I've seen it." 'Well, the bulge, anyway.'

Jesse laughed, "Oh, my god! You have! Well? Come on. How was it? Details."

"None of your damn business," Dan griped.

"Damn! Somebody didn't seal the deal, yet. If you got some, you wouldn't be giving me some, right now. See, girl," Jesse looked at Jo, "that tension will disappear as soon as he..."

Jo felt Dan grip her elbow and opened the door. She went with him as he rushed her down the stairs. 'I didn't even get my keys.'

He quietly said, "I'm sorry. She just gets under my skin."

"Hey," Jesse yelled down the stairs, "Do something I would do. Please!"

Dan growled, "Just one more month 'til I get you all to myself."

They drove to the club after dinner, but Jo wasn't in the mood to dance. All through the dinner, Dan was quiet and critical. Dan couldn't leave the place without commenting on the poor quality of service. It was absolutely the most embarrassing moment of her life. She couldn't stand the way he pointed at the poor man and spoke condescendingly to him. He spent the entire car ride talking about how Langier's was so much better. When they got through the line of bouncers at the club, she made straight for the bathrooms. The music was way too loud for her. She heard Dan call, but she'd had about enough of the muttered negativity. She made herself take a few breaths as she washed her hands. She had to do something before he ruined the evening. 'What is wrong with that boy? He's gonna get what he wants, tonight.'

*

"Joanne," Dan called after her, but he figured the music was too loud. He kept an eye on the ladies side of the bathrooms while she was gone. Everything was going wrong. He hadn't had time to plan things out. The restaurant he'd picked sucked. He wanted to start things over, but he couldn't seem to stop spewing this stream of garbage. 'What is wrong with me?' He'd done this before with her. He knew she hated it. He knew what this was really about, but he couldn't tell her he didn't want to have sex with her as this planned thing. He'd actually liked this kind of thing with Candace, but this was different. Candace was ready at the drop of a hat. He'd tried to be like that to please her. He didn't want to hurt Joanne. That was the last thing he wanted to do. 'So, act like it, you dumb ass. Do whatever she wants.'

When she came out, she looked around the room. When she caught his eyes, she didn't seem all that happy to find him. She came over anyway. He went to touch her, but she kept out of reach. She looked up at him and said, "Why are you being such a jerk?" 

He looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry. I don't know why."

"No, you know." She scanned his face, and he felt more and more guilty. "I think this date's over," she looked away from him, "'cause I don't like this."

She walked away from him. "No, Jo. Look," he caught her before she got to the door. "There's something wrong with me. I'm sorry. Just stay with me."

"Hey, man," a voice said in the crowd. A man walked over and asked Jo, "He bothering you?"

"Uh, no. He's okay." She frowned that beautiful frown up at Daniel.

"Stay with me, please," he tried to bring her back toward him by her hand. She didn't return his grip, but he saw something in her eyes. "Can we go somewhere and talk?" Her face showed she wouldn't go willingly. He crouched down to her ear and spoke so that she would hear every word. "I wanted to have a plan, okay? Because, if we go to that next step, it could go three ways. The first way, we feel good for a few minutes and you regret it. Resent me. Maybe, hate me for wanting to. The second way, we do it, and it's great, but you get pregnant. Your life plans go up in smoke. The third way, I could ..."

"Dan," she shoved him away, "Do you think I'm attractive?"

"Of course," he said a little louder than he'd liked. 'How could she not know that?'

She put her hands on her hips. He couldn't quite hear what she said over the music, but he watched her lips. "Do you want to have sex with me?"

'Look at her. She doesn't get what I'm trying to say.' He took her head in his hands, kissed her, and said, "I want to make love to you, not..." She leaned in and kissed him back.

"That's all I need to know," her face softened as she put her hands over his. "Let's get outta here."

"But, I don't have protection..."

"Let's go get the bag I gave you." She frowned at him.

*

'Okay, so this was him thinking too much. When he thinks, he worries, and he's a complete ass. So, let's not let him think. Let's just be with him tonight. We'll get the condoms. I hope I got the right size, what if they're too small? What if they're too big? What if I don't even get that far? What if I choke? What if he changes his mind? Oh, god, what have I done?'

She watched the scenery flow by as they drove. She saw her house go by and then his.

"Where are we going?"

He looked sideways at her then back at the road before saying, "I sorta rented a room."

"A room?"

"We've had some bad luck as far as our places are concerned. I figured, we could spend the night. We wouldn't have this rush for time."

"What about the bag?"

He tapped the glove box. She opened it. He must have crammed the white bag with pastel flowers in so he wouldn't forget it. When she pulled it out. The card was creased in several places, and the box was crumpled on one side. She pulled out the box of condoms and looked at the intact bottle of lube in the bottom of the bag. 'Okay, this is it. You're gonna do this. I can't believe this.'

They rode in silence until they got to the hotel. It was the huge monster hotel just off of the interstate. 

"You want to come in and get the key?"

"No, I'm fine here," she said as she looked up at the walls of lit rooms that covered the building. She felt him get out and shut the door. Suddenly, she felt a little cold. She wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned back into her seat. 'Okay, Jo. It's not like you're going to your execution. He's a good guy. He's been so great. You think he's fine. Why are you scared?'

He got back into the car and pulled into a space next to a side door. He hopped out and quickly got to her side before she could open the door herself. He took her hand and pulled her out of the car. There was something about his eyes that she wanted to remember. She felt she would need to remember everything about tonight. He didn't smile at her, which put her a little on edge. 'We're really doing this,' she thought as he slid the cardkey into the lock and opened the door with one hand. His other hand held the bag with a few fingers and urged her in with the rest. She moved past him with her head down.

He spoke precisely as they walked to the elevator, "I don't think this was such a good idea."

"Really?"

"I feel like some kid on prom night. Do you?"

"A little," she responded. 'A lot!'

"Hey, let's go try to get booze from a liquor store, order room service, and trash the room," he smiled as he pressed the up arrow.

She laughed, "Let's not."

"Okay, baby. Let's make it feel like something else then."

They rode the elevator in silence. Joanne was a little less nervous when he was just standing there next to her. When the doors opened, he let her go out first.

She looked at the room guide on the wall and asked, "What's the room number?"

Dan grabbed her up in his arms. She let out a little squeal. "4327, baby," he purred as he carried her down the hall. They passed by 4305, then 4307.

"I think I should walk part of the way," she said as she tucked her head into his neck.

"I assure you, we'll get there and in the door." She could hear him smiling.

"Dan," she thought of protesting,. 'But, this is pretty sweet.' "Are you planning on carrying me everywhere?"

"Well," he tossed her gently then caught her, "you're light enough. I should feed you more."

When they got to 4327, he ran the key without actually seeing it and put her down on the bed.

"So, Mrs. Langier, let's get some champagne," he picked up the phone.

"No," she said. 'Mrs. Langier. Mrs. Joanne Melissa Langier.' "I don't want to drink." 'I want to remember everything.'

He stood there crouched over the phone for a second then set the receiver down. "You want to watch TV?"

She nodded carefully at him. He wasn't making any moves. She thought he'd be all over her once they closed that door. He stretched out on the bed next to her and picked up the remote from the little table.

"What do you want to watch?"

"Anything's good," she sighed as he put his arm around her. They watched in silence for a while. He was so still she'd thought he went to sleep. When she looked at him, he was looking right back. Those slate eyes bore into her with curiosity. 'No, he's not curious. Not about me. He knows about me. This is something else.' He leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth. It wasn't a quick peck. His mouth lingered there long enough to make her face tingle. He then slid over to press fully over her lips. 

'Does he know how delicious he is?' She felt the smoothness of his face as he gained entry for his tongue. She felt his fingers touch her ear and smooth the fabric of her shirt until his palm made contact with her breast. It sent a shockwave through her body. She moaned around his mouth, "Mmmhhh," and pulled at his shirt. He raised up and took off his shirt for her. She felt his muscles tense as he went back down to kiss her again. This time his lips connected with her neck. Another strange arc of electricity raised down her body. 'What was that? Oh, my legs!' There was this flame that shot up her inner thighs as his knee went between hers. He worked his hand under her shirt and made full contact with her abdomen as he worked his fingers under her bra. This is usually where they'd stop. He would apologize profusely and leave her lying here. This is where she would have panicked a few months ago, but she didn't. She raised up to let him raise her shirt off. She shivered at the feel of the air on skin that was usually covered. His eyes scanned her body for a moment before he put his lips to her forehead and slid off of the bed to his feet. He held her eyes as he pulled down his jeans. He hesitated then hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his boxers and made them drop, too.

'Boxers. You usually wear.. Oh my god, it's pointing right at me!' The erect penis was rooted in a mass of thick black hairs. She closed her eyes. 'Okay. Get yourself together. It's not like you haven't seen one before. No, it's not. You've seen them, so this is just...' A pair of lips pressed against hers, then glanced off her nose.

"No going somewhere else," he quietly chided as he kneeled next to her. "You're with me." He scanned her face, "You okay?"

Jo smiled, "I'm fine," to put both of them at ease.

"You absolutely are," he murmured as he wrapped an arm over her waist. She buried her head in his shoulder as he pulled her to the edge of the bed. She felt him work at her jeans. The snap was quick, but he tugged at her zipper fruitlessly. She put her hand over his and he pulled away. She raised her bottom off of the bed and the pull came free. She slid her pants slowly to expose her underwear. They matched the soft lavender of her bra. She'd bought them for tonight. 'Well, not exactly tonight, but he seemed to like the color..."

Dan let out a throaty growl and gripped her hips. She was on her back with his mouth on the top of her breasts, before she could think. Her jeans were completely off and across the room in the wild arc as the fabric of her panties dangled from her toes. He licked and sucked at the exposed parts of her breasts, and held her left thigh firmly in place with his hand. It was hard to breathe. The other hand pulled the cup of her bra down to expose her already erect nipple.

"Uh," she cried out as he sucked on the sensitive flesh. 'So good!' Joanne felt suddenly stupid. 'What am I doing?' She'd arched her back, though she didn't know why .she needed to. She felt a snap on her back and the elastic of her bra gave way. Instinctively, she reached to cover herself, but Dan's hand met hers. He switched his mouth to the other breast. He massaged the thigh he'd been holding and continued to play her nipple around in his mouth. She tried to settle back to the bed, but he urged her to reach for him by teasing lightly at her breast. Then he was completely detached from her. She heard herself whine and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"It's okay to make noise. I made sure we were far from anybody else," he said as he dropped down below her vision. She heard a rustling and he reappeared with the box of condoms she'd bought. He held her in his view as he opened the box carefully. He looked at the bottle of lube in the other hand and dropped it back to the floor. 'It's time, already?' She sat up on her elbows and watched as he put the foil packet in his teeth and ripped it open. He pulled it out and rolled the clear latex on quickly.

As he settled himself next to her on the bed, he said, "I don't think I'll be any good this time."

"Why?" She dared to ask as he ran his fingers up her thigh. 

He looked down at the patch of hair between her legs and back to her eyes. "This is why."

Joanne hadn't been ready. Something forced its way into her. She tried to move away but his hand held her hip down.

"Don't tense up. It's just my finger. I can go get the lube, but it's still not gonna be pleasant. You want to stop, now?"

'Yes!' "No," came out of her mouth, "it'll be okay." 'What? No, it won't. That was just a finger!'

Joanne felt something dance across her navel. She couldn't help but giggle. She'd closed her eyes, again. A light shone in his eyes as he made her laugh with the slightest touch of his lips to the tender flesh of her abdomen. Dan ran an adoring hand over her stomach and dropped down off of the bed. She wanted to close her thighs but he kept them open with his hands. He studied her crotch intently. 'What? Is there something wrong down there? What are you doing?'

He winked up at her and lowered his head.

"Uhhh?" She covered her mouth again. His tongue pressed into her opening. At first, it felt weird to have his tongue pressing and licking down there, but he kept caressing her stomach to calm her. After a while it didn't seem that bad, and she felt her back arching again as he moved his mouth around. Then, he fastened his lips around her clit and she jumped. She stifled a frightened gasp as her legs started to tremble.

Dan raised up slightly and breathed, "Trust me."

'I don't know if I can,' she thought as he found the spot again. She couldn't stay still. The sensation was nothing she'd ever felt. She couldn't let him do that to her without raising her pelvis to meet his darting tongue. He left her alone again.

She openly whimpered a low, "Please, Danny."

He got on top of her with his weight balanced on one arm. She wanted him to touch her again, but he just watched her squirm. 'Please, Danny!' She put her hands to his ears and tried to pull him, but he held back. She felt his finger enter a little easier and she brought her legs up to surround his waist. She felt this tension in his lower back as he slowly dropped his weight down and kissed her.

'What's that salty taste? Is it me?'

Dan gripped her hip and there was no hesitation as he pushed into her.

"Mmmmfff! Mmmhh," she moaned into his mouth. 'Ow! Ow! Get out!'

She scream under his mouth as he held on to her wrists and used his body to keep her down.

'No! Jerry! No! Stop, please! God, please! Stop!'

"It's okay, baby," she heard in her head. "Open 'em. Look at me. Joanne. It's okay."

She opened her eyes and saw a pair of blue eyes looking down at her. "Where'd you go?" He kissed her nose. She felt him stroking her shoulder. He wasn't moving inside her. She closed her eyes again. "Look at me."

She glanced back at his frowning face. He let out a heavy sigh and said, "Baby..."

Joanne arched her back to force him deeper into her and kissed his shoulder.

"Keep going, honey," she whispered to him. "Keep going."



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 20



Daniel Langier watched her sleep peacefully from his chair. He sipped at his ice water to try to fill the pit in his chest. He tried to think of what to say to her. He'd said he was sorry, but it didn't feel right. She'd covered his mouth and rolled away from him. They shouldn't have done it. He'd pushed her too far, last night. She'd wake up and hate him. When he got out of bed to use the bathroom, he thought he should probably leave. He couldn't bring himself to do it. 'This is bad, but I deserve whatever punishment she gives me.'

She rolled over and opened her eyes. He smiled slowly at her and she raised up to focus on him.

"You let me sleep? What time is it?"

"It doesn't matter. I'd rather you got your rest," he softly said as he set down his glass and sat down next to her on the bed.

"Did I snore?" She looked up at him with those beautiful brown eyes and sighed. He couldn't help the kiss he pressed to her forehead. He had to reward her for that look.

"No," he smiled to himself. "You were like an angel."

"Angel! Ha!" She sat up straighter and wrapped the sheet around her. "Not after what we did, last night."

'Not after what I did.' He didn't laugh. He didn't want to see the easy smile on her face. He made the mistake of looking away.

"What's wrong?" She turned his face with her hand and looked right into him. 'She can see it all over me, can't she?' She studied him as he tried to come up with something to say.

Her eyes were just narrowing when he blurted out, "We shouldn't have slept together."

Her mouth dropped open slightly and she pulled the sheet closer over her breasts. "Was I that bad?"

She looked away from him. He had to reassure her before her shoulders folded in, "Oh, no. I just...last night...I rushed through and... Maybe you weren't ready."

She frowned at him, "I bought the condoms. I came here with you. You didn't force me to do anything."

"But, I saw your face."

She touched his arm, "It's okay."

"It's not. Not the way you looked at me," he crossed his arms over his bare chest. He'd only seen a shadow of what she'd actually done, because he'd been kissing her part of the time. When she screamed he stopped. Her body had been tensed under him. She'd dug her nails into his arms and shut her eyes tight. Her mouth opened, and her teeth clinched tight. The terror was still frozen on her face when she finally opened her eyes again.

"Dan," she sighed with her cheek on his shoulder, "You have to cut me some slack. It felt good. Really good. I just need a little practice, okay?"

"Practice," he mumbled.

"I was a little scared, at first. That's all. I shouldn't have been. I'm with you. You don't scare me. I scare me," she pointed to herself.

He wanted to believe her, but there was something not right in the way she rushed through the words. He ran his fingers over her forearm and slowly down to her fingertips. "Baby..."

"Donatello," she firmly said. "Stop thinking so much. Come back to bed." She'd called him Donatello. It sounded good coming from her.

* Joanne urged him to lay down with her hands. His muscles were firm under her fingers. 'He's right. I know I flipped out,' she sighed as he finally settled into the mattress. 'It was stupid. I shouldn't feel weird with him. I just wanted things to be good. Why can't things just work out?' As she ran her hands over his back, he let out a soft sound and said, "I'll give you forever to stop that."

She wanted to see the places she'd been denied for weeks. Dan turned to his back and silently surveyed the situation. She dug her fingers into his hair and ran her nails over his scalp. She bent forward and smelled his hair. His face moved into a strange expression when she moved to his face. Her palms rested on his cheeks as she traced his eyebrows with her thumbs. She bent down and kissed his lips. She teased at his stubble and put her lips to his neck. She found a sensitive spot on the side of his neck and he squirmed slightly. Her mouth went to his shoulder and she fanned her hand across his chest. She felt his breathing quicken as her hand moved deliberately over his abdomen.

"Okay, babe. I'm not too sure about this," he purred as he picked up her hand.

"Neither am I," Jo said as she tried to move toward him again. She wasn't sure where this was going, but she wanted it. She wanted him inside her again. This time, she wanted to be with him, instead of inside her head.

"I want us to be sure," he said slowly and precisely. "Absolutely, sure. Because, I don't want to do this again just to do it again."

"Well, maybe, I just wanted to see some things, before I made up my mind," she blushed. 'God, I am such a teenager, right now.'

He rolled his eyes and muttered, "I can't believe I'm gonna say this." He covered his chest with the sheet and said with a suppressed laugh, "Up here only. No below the waist until I'm ready."

She sat up and let her end of the sheet drop. She liked the way he was distracted by her bare breasts. The way that he focused on her, she could almost feel him on her skin. She snapped her finger in front of her right nipple and put her hands on her hips. "So, when exactly will you be ready? A girl has needs, you know?"

They both laughed. Dan wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her lips. 

"Room service," he offered as he scanned her face.

She was a little hungry. She let her arms drop to his sides and put her temple on his rough cheek. "Sure."

*

Joanne didn't really want to go back home, but she wanted to change her clothes and maybe take a shower. She smelled like Dan, which wasn't so bad, but she didn't want other people smelling him on her. She needed to get back to her books. She wasn't sure how long they'd been in that hotel room, but it was definitely more than one day. They'd lazed there in bed for a long time with his skin against hers. She had this urge to fill the silence with talk, which was different for her. Joanne couldn't stop once she'd started and talked about any and everything. She elicited a throaty chuckle when she told him what she thought of him when she first met him. She got a few more laughs with stories from her childhood. Then, Jo started to explain what she figured he wanted to know. She started at the beginning. 

"Jerry came over for piano lessons. I was horrible. The lessons ended. He kept coming over for dinner. I had a crush on him. What girl wouldn't? He was big and handsome, like one of Dad's paintings. At first, I was so happy he liked me. I mean, he could have any girl on that block, but he chose me. Little old me. That entire summer, we went almost everywhere together. Mom and Dad thought he was watching me. And, they thought he was the best thing for putting up with me. Huh. Well, you know what happened. After that, I tried to gain weight, but he liked me bigger. I tried hiding, but that didn't work, either. You see, he's the son they never had, so he was always there at the house. I couldn't stand being in my own home. I just started to find ways to be gone. I studied. I locked myself in my room and worked on being stronger. I sure was strong last night. I'm sorry I went crazy on you. You waited so long, and I messed it up," she droned on. She wasn't even sure he was listening after a while. She was sure she felt him next to her, but he didn't make a sound in response.

Joanne woke up when room service came. He made her stay under the blanket and fed her from the tray. Pancakes were not a good choice. He got syrup all over her and the comforter. He did his best to get the stickiness off of her arm with his mouth. The syrup added more sweetness to his already delicious lips. Then, they went back to sleep. It was familiar to do that, but it made her thighs warm. When they'd done it with clothes, there was this physical barrier and they had observed a strict boundary in the bed. He used to avoid her breasts. Now, he wrapped his arm around them and held her body against his. His caresses were less controlled under the covers, as well. Joanne couldn't drift off again, but concentrated on the sound of his breathing. When she finally decided to get up, she felt his lips on her ear and shoulder.

He murmured close to her ear, "Don't leave me, Jo. Can't we stay here?"

She said a quick, "No. I need to study. I've got to get home."

The shower at the hotel was too rough on her skin. She only got herself wet and dried off. The lack of a shower didn't seem to make Dan uncomfortable, but that was his thing. He seemed to take pleasure in the fact that she smelled like him. He even offered to go get her books, if she'd take her clothes back off. She held firm and demanded to go home, though she would have probably reconsidered with a stronger effort on his part. 

On the walk up to her door, he put an arm around her and commented on the warm breeze. He hadn't done that in broad daylight, before. He'd been smiling a lot, too. 'Does sex really do that to men? I mean, I don't really feel like smiling, but I guess I'm doing it, too,' she thought. He touched his lips to her temple and held his hand out for her keys. That's when she remembered, "I don't have 'em. They were on the coffee table..."

"Not to worry. How much do you want to bet Jesse's waiting at the buzzer?"

He was right. Jesse said an annoyed, "What?"

"Can you buzz me in? I left my..."

Before she could finish her sentence she heard the hum of the latch releasing, and Dan pushed the door open.

*

"Where the hell have you been?" Jesse growled as she yanked their apartment door open. "I called your mom!"

"Hold on, there," Dan held Jesse back with his hands on her arms to keep her from rushing Joanne before she got through the door. "We had some things to discuss."

"Discuss?" She tried to dodge around him, but he was faster. "Damn, it! Get out of my way! I need to see her for myself!"

"No," he held firm, "you need to leave her alone."

"It's okay, Dan. Jesse, we just needed some time to ourselves. I guess I've got some stuff to say to Mom, then," Jo moved around them to get to the phone.

"You're wearing the same stuff you were wearing three fucking days ago!" Jesse tugged at Dan's shirt sleeve. She put her face to his chest and took an audible breath. "And, you smell."

Daniel let the little woman go, and shrugged, "So."

"So, you either were stranded on some road for three days and finally walked back here, or..." Jesse scanned his face with a grin. "You two were fuckin'! You two were fuckin'!" Her voice became lyrical as she chanted those words repeatedly. A realization must have struck her suddenly, because she balled up her fist and struck him in the chest. "Damn, I hate you! You two had me all worried, and you were just shacked up getting all freaky! So, how was he?"

"SSSHHH!" Joanne dialed the number she didn't really feel like dialing and held the phone to her ear.

- -Hello, Jesse?- - A tired voice picked up on the other end.

"Dad, are you okay?"

- -Oh, bay,- - she heard a long sigh, - -you at home?- -

"Yeah, Dad."

- -You alright?- -

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just went away for the weekend."

- -We're coming over.- -

"That's really not necessary. It's a four hour drive. I'm fine. I'd really rather sleep..."

- -We're already in town. When Jesse called we came right down.- -

'How am I talking to you, then if you're not at home? He forwarded his calls?' Jo must have shown her surprise because Dan leaned over the half wall in front of her. He mouthed, "What?" She shook her head and turned her back on him. He pulled her against the half wall and pressed a kiss to her neck and went into the living room. She couldn't help but smile.

"Well, Jesse overreacted. I'm fine, really. It's none of her business if I want to go..." The buzzer made her jump.

- - Let us up.- -

"What? Were you waiting outside my door?"

- -We were drivin' around looking at the ditches and alleys for your corpse.- -

"Dad..."

- -Just let us up. - -

Joanne hit the button and looked at Jesse and Dan fighting over the remote control. It was more normal than her life had been lately. She really should be nervous about her parents coming up, but she was way too tired. 'Maybe, they'll get along with Dan. He's really a nice guy.'

She raised her voice, "Hey, my parents are coming up."

Dan immediately dropped the remote into Jesse's grasping fingers and gave Jo a look she'd never seen before. Before she had the opportunity to investigate the mood behind the look, her father's solid rap shook the door on its frame. She tugged at her dirty shirt and opened the door. Her father surprised her with a tight hug the moment the door was wide enough. The last time they were face to face, he wasn't too happy with her.

He moaned into her ear, "Bay, you're okay?"

She laughed nervously as he squeezed her a little too tight and turned her away from the door. "I was..."

Jesse screamed before something caught Jo's ear. The sound was distinct. She tried to shove her way out of her dad's grasp, but she could only struggle as she heard flesh hit flesh again. 'What's happening?' All she could do was yell, "Dan! Daddy, stop this!"

"Just let 'em work it out," he grumbled. "Sit still and let them fix this."

A heavy object hit the floor and shattered. "Oh, no," her father muttered.

It could only be one thing. "Grandma's vase! Daddy!"

"You brought it on yourself, girl. He's defending your honor, right now."

She blinked at him, "Is that what you think?"

She heard a shuffling across the carpet. "So much for your big words, huh, Danny? Touch her again, boy. See what I do."

Jo heard the phone scrape across the counter and the buttons being pressed.

"What are you doing?" Jo was suddenly free. Jesse, with the phone in the air, was more pressing to her father.

"I'm calling the cops. What does it look like I'm doing," Jesse snapped as she put the phone to her ear. "Hello, yeah, there's a fight in our living room..." Her father yanked the phone out of her hand and hung up the phone. Jesse rolled her eyes, "Now, you know they're coming."

Jo turned to see Dan kneeling on Jerry's back as he struggled wildly. "You give?"

"Get off! Dan, shit!" Jerry dropped his hands to the floor and rasped, "I give, okay. Get off!"

*

Dan stood up and offered his hand to Jerry. The man waved it away and stood up. "When the hell'd you get so heavy?"

"I grew up," Dan frowned as he eyed his former friend. "You should, too. We going again?"

Jeremy Carter stood there with his hands on his hips, for a moment then dropped himself onto the couch. "Naw, man. Why'd you have to go and do this?"

"Do what?"

"Damn it, Dan. You shoulda left her alone, but you took her." 

The two kept each other's eye in a slow battle of wills. Dan wasn't completely convinced Jerry would stay on the couch.

Jo walked slowly toward Dan without looking over at Jerry. Her voice was tense when she said, "He didn't take me. I went with him. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, babe," he said in a soft tone and touched her arm when she was close enough. That touch worked to calm him and he pressed his palm into her wrist. She looked up at him with an almost imperceptible smile.

"Joanne," Jerry grumbled, "How could you? You couldn't wait for me to be out of town, could you?"

Joanne hunched her shoulders. "What? I'm supposed to ask your permission to go away for the weekend with my man? That's none of your business. What the hell are you doing here, anyway?"

"Pop called me. He said you were missing, so I caught the first flight."

Joanne cringed, "He's not your pop. What part of leave me alone, didn't you get? I want you out of my house."

Jerry surveyed her crossed arms and general closed stance and smiled, "Go ahead. Be mad. Spend your time with him, but you're coming back to me."

Before Dan could do anything, Jesse ran over to the couch and smacked Jerry over the side of his head. Jesse seemed to cry, "Fuck you, Jerry. What was I? Some place holder? I thought..."

Jerry caught her hand, before she could connect again. "You ain't nothin' but a ho, girl. I hit that less than three hours after we met. What did you think you were? The only reason I called you after that night was because I thought you knew Jo. This was complicated enough, with what she thinks happened, but then you had to go and tell 'em to fuck."

"Stop it, now, Jerry," Dan hissed. 

"Don't get me wrong, bra. If I were you, I'd have hit that, too. But, my girl and I have some things to straighten out. You don't know how she feels about me. Does he, Jo?"

"Yes, he does. He does. Jerry, it's not like that. I don't want any more trouble," Jo forced out as she held Dan's hand over her wrist. "Please, leave..."

Jerry made no movement, but a cocking of his head to the side. "You didn't tell him, did you? How you came to me? How we worried..."

Jo curved her shoulders even more. "There's nothing to tell, Jerry. I told him everything."

Jerry smirked, "Everything?"

Dan put both hands on Jo's shoulders and spoke. "Yeah, I know everything there is to know. You can't pretend that you have this secret together. There's no reason to dance around this, anymore. Mr. Croix, I'm sorry. I wanted to give you some time, but you're not gonna let this rest, are you? She didn't want you to know what kind of a person he is, because she loves you."

Jo turned to face him. By the look on her face, he knew she didn't want him to say anything else. He avoided her gaze and set his jaw. 'I'm doing this for you. You'll thank me.' "Well, I don't give a damn if it hurts your feelings. This man," Dan pointed at Jerry still on the couch. "This man raped your daughter."

Joanne looked at her father. James Croix looked at his daughter as if he'd never seen her before. The man didn't seem to have heard what Daniel said. Jerry's loud laugh burned his ears.

Jerry's voice raised an octave, "She didn't tell you that! Did you, girl? Did you tell him that?"

"I," she started to say something, but nothing came out. Daniel rubbed her arm to encourage her to speak, but he could feel her fear under his fingers.

"See, there? You can't lie to my face, can you? What? You tell him this bullshit, so I look bad to him? I knew you were mad at me, but I didn't think you'd go this far," Jerry rumbled as he got off of the couch. "Hey, Pops. Don't believe this. I told you before, I never did anything to hurt her."

"Yes, you did," Dan heard her finally talk. It was so quiet at first, she had to force the rest of the air out to make it audible.

"Huh," Jerry smiled at the sound of her voice. The man seemed to think that Jo would fold under his gaze. Dan kept his hold on her arm to remind her that he was still in the room.

"You," she looked down at her feet and mumbled, "raped me."

"Joanne," Jerry warned, "you don't mean that."

Jo shook her head at him, "I do. You raped me. You said no one would believe me. You used me. You used my family against me. Just like you're trying to do, now."

Almost automatically, the sneering disbelief disappeared from Jerry's face. He pleaded, "That's not what happened! We made love. You stayed the rest of the night with me. I told you I love..."

A heavy knock came to the door. Jesse ran to see who it was.

Jerry continued to try to convince her of his point of view, "Why would you stay with me all of that night? Why would you let me kiss you?"

Joanne sighed, "I don't know." The tears welled up as she looked toward her father again. By the look on Mr. Croix's face, Dan wasn't sure he'd done the right thing anymore. The old man drew back a few steps.

Jesse returned with a police officer. "Look what I found." Another cop was standing outside the open door. She smiled at the officer in the room, "As I said, there's nothing going on here. I thought they were getting into a fight, but everybody's okay. Right Jo?"




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 20



"Uh, yeah. Nobody's hurt," Jo sniffed. "They just broke my grandma's vase."

The officer scanned the faces and stopped at Joanne. "Are you sure ma'am?"

"Yes, I'm sure." She mustered a sort of a smile at the officer as he looked up at Dan.

A flash of recognition triggered a slow, "Wait, aren't you the guy with the donut in your ear?"

It was the same officer that had been called to break up the fight with Jerry. "Uh, I think it was a cinnamon roll, but yeah," Dan shrugged sheepishly.

"And, you're mister 'what's it to you,' right?" The officer looked at Jerry.

"That was an isolated incident, officer. It has no relation to this particular moment," Jerry softly said.

The officer looked between the two, "Okay, this is warning number two. If I see you guys again, I'm not gonna care what the story is. You go downtown. Get me?"

Jerry and Danny both voiced their agreement. With a satisfied nod the officer went to join his partner outside.

"Wait, officer," James Croix stopped the officer at the door. He had a quiet conference with the two men before he closed the door. When he turned around, he let out a slow sigh and sat down in the kitchen.

"Thanks, babe," Dan murmured as he put his arms around her. 'for being so strong.'

She said with her cheek resting on his upper arm, "I didn't do anything." He stroked her back.

Jesse made her presence known, "Okay, break it up, or go to your room. God, you make me sick."

Dan felt the laugh before Joanne made a sound. "I like you too, Jessica."

"Not enough to do me, but I guess it'll do," Jesse smiled back at her. The girl wasn't that bad when she was on their side. "You guys staying here tonight? Because, I can spend the night with Terrence. I'm sure he missed me..."

Jerry snapped, "Stop talking like I don't count. This doesn't change anything. We were in the middle of..."

"Just shut up, Jerry," he heard Mr. Croix's somewhat diminished voice from the kitchen.

"But, Pops..."

"I'm not your Pops. If today was a year ago, you'd be in a squad car, right now," he calmly said as he rose from his chair.

Jerry tried a different route, "No. You can't possibly think that I did anything to..."

"I don't think. I know." James Croix looked at his daughter and sighed, "You see, Jo couldn't lie her way out of a paper bag. It may not seem that way to some, but that's the best thing about my girl. I can't believe I stuck up for you. I asked you what happened , Jeremy. You lied to me. Not just once, but over and over again."



Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 21



Joanne woke up. She felt a bit strange. It wasn't the fact that she'd slept over at Daniel's place. They'd done that a lot, lately. He had this habit of letting her sleep, which was a welcome change from Jesse's loud morning ritual. This morning, Daniel was moving around his room naked. For a little while, anyway. Perhaps, because she was wearing one of his shirts, she felt a bit over dressed. 

He obviously must have walked down the hallway with his bits swinging freely, because he was still wet from the shower. He hummed quietly as he rubbed the water out of his hair and tossed the towel to the ground. He went into a drawer and pulled out a pair of briefs. As he balanced to put them on, he glanced her way. 

"Good morning, babe," he seemed to sing. "You don't need to be up for another hour. Go back to sleep."

She knew that. Her last final was this afternoon. "We meeting for dinner?"

"No, I've got grading to do," the song left his voice. "But, you could come over here and eat. Pop's trying out some sort of fish sandwich recipe for downstairs." He pulled his jeans up and buttoned them before reaching for his shirt.

"That's okay. I think I'll eat by myself, for a change," she yawned as she moved to get out of the bed.

He sat down next to her, with his shirt still partway up, and frowned playfully, "You like eating alone? This will be a problem."

She smiled, "Well, maybe for you, but I'm fine with it."

She couldn't resist pulling his shirt the rest of the way down. Her fingers made contact with his warm stomach. She held it there to enjoy the feel of the little hairs below his navel.

"You're gonna make me late, aren't you," he whispered.

"Wouldn't dream of it," she moved her hand and dropped back down to the pillows. With a smile, she closed her eyes, and arched her back. "I wouldn't want you to be late for anything. I hate being late."

"Now, that's not fair."

"What?" She turned away from him, "I'm not doing anything." She knew he liked to kiss the back of her neck, so she gave him a nice open view while she settled into the pillow.

He touched her arm and she turned back to look into his eyes as he said, "Oh, you wait. I'm gonna get you."

"Maybe." She closed her eyes again with a smile.

"Oh, yes. You're gonna get it," she heard him say as he left the room.

*

Jo met up with Jesse outside of the sciences building. "Girl, what is that you're wearing?"

Jo looked down at Daniel's shirt and her jeans. "Clothes."

"Somebody else's clothes," she frowned. "You are not some huge heifer that needs to hide. Let's go."

"I'm just going to a final exam. Nobody gives a damn what I'm wearing."

Jesse snorted in disbelief, "I do! Now, let's go get you some real clothes on."

Since the air had been cleared, things had been a lot better between Jesse and Jo. But, Jo drew the line at being a clothes horse, "No."

"Oh, come on! You need to make that boy remember why he wanted to get with you. Lately, you've been kinda frumpy."

Jo grumbled, "He likes me frumpy. Besides, I won't be seeing him, tonight. He's got grading..."

"Then, it's girl's night out. But, no drinkin. You're a lousy drunk," she laughed. "Meet you back at the apartment at three thirty?"

"Sure. But, I'm not dressing up."

*

A tap came to Daniel's office door. Padha looked up with curiosity. He opened the door just a crack. Jesse stood with her finger over her lips. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Phase one completed. I'm taking her to the spa, so you got anything special you want done," Jesse gestured at her crotch.

"Uh," he blushed, "no. Just get her to the bar on time. They've got a schedule."

"Ok. You gonna tell me..."

"No. You'll find out when everybody else does."

She twisted her lips to the side and frowned, "Well, how many phases are there?"

"Thanks a lot, Jesse. I owe you one." He shooed the girl away from the door before he closed it. He turned around to look at Padha's broad smile with a frown. "You tip her off, you die."

*

Joanne looked over her exam one more time. She knew there were a few places she wasn't sure about, but she couldn't stand to look at the thing any longer. She gave the exam and scratch paper to her designated proctor and started to leave.

"Psssst!"

She turned to see Padha waving wildly at her from the other side of the room. She turned and slowly walked over to her.

"Have you seen him today?" The woman whispered too loudly.

Jo frowned, "No, I'll see him some time tomorrow."

"Oh. He seems a little strange today. Maybe, you should go see him, now."

Jo's frown deepened as she waved good bye. 'She was emphasizing those words a little too hard. She's a bit frantic. She thinks he's gonna propose tonight. He's not going to. He said he'd wait till graduation. I'll start worrying then.'

*

Jesse came in early and slapped the sandwich out of her hand. 

"Girl's night out, damn it! We're gonna stuff you silly all day long! But first, let's get you into something for the boys to get all sweaty over."

"What? Jesse, I told you..."

Jesse put her hands on her hips, "What if we were gonna bump into some hotty with a bankroll the size of a car? You need to look good, so I can rope that boy in!"

Joanne let out a sigh, "Fine. But, this is the last time I do this."

"Of course it is. It's not like Hot Chocolate even notices that kinda stuff."

'He notices. He just doesn't put a lot of stock into it.'

By the time Jesse was done with her, Jo felt a little naked. The skirt was too tight, and the top was way too small.

"Damn, you look hot," Jesse smiled. "A little too hot. Save that outfit for Danny. Let's get you something while we're out. Something that covers up a bit more. And look at those legs. You need a wrap and a wax. Maybe a pedicure. Let me see those fingers. Hell, we're gonna spend the day at the spa. Maybe, you'll look presentable enough by tonight. Come on," Jesse dragged her out of the room.

Jo dug in her feet. 'I'm still wearing this!' "But, Jesse. I need to change..."

"No time to waste. Let's hope they had some cancellations. Get your coat on, come on!"

*

Joanne was getting to enjoy the spa. The soft music was lulling her into a little bit of a nap as the hands worked their way across her back. She wouldn't have thought of this on her own. The whole hair removal thing was a bit rough, but she figured it would be a little present for Danny when they finally got some time together. 

The last few nights she'd been focused on studying. She'd been so tired, they'd barely said two words to each other. She figured, that tonight would be something exciting, but she'd have to wait another day or two to get his attention.

When Jo finally stepped out of the spa, she felt a lot cold and naked, even though she was wearing one of her full length coats. 

Jesse looked at her watch and said, "Way behind schedule. Getting you presentable took too much of my club time. If we're lucky, we'll get there by 10:30. Oh yeah, we still have to find you a dress. Preferably tight, but not too tight. Maybe stretchy with a plunging back, yeah."

'The woman is out off her damn mind,' Jo smiled at her friend and let her take her to the mall.

*

Daniel sat nervously as his turn slowly moved forward. He'd already talked to the mc and was moved to last. He hoped she'd get to the bar soon. He had the two songs ready. He'd been practicing for the past month to get them just right. The place was packed. He figured he wouldn't be able to find her, if she was in the building.

The mc gave Danny a nod and introduced him, "I debated on whether I should let this guy back up here for amateur night. The guy just comes up, sits down, and destroys the competition. Well, tonight we had some aspiring artists in the mix so we'll see how he stands up next to talent. Everybody, please welcome, Daniel Langier."

Daniel waved at the clapping people and sat down. He did a quick run, closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. He did a version of "Crush" by Gavin Degraw. The crowd seemed to enjoy it. 

He then shook out his arms and did the song that he'd worried over. "My Joy" by Jeremy Carter. He did it the way that he'd wanted it to sound in the beginning. In his mind, Joanne was standing behind him with her hands on his shoulders. By the end of the song, he could feel her arms around his waist as he was about to penetrate her. When he finished, there was a silence. It took a moment to gather himself. He'd kept his eyes closed, so when he opened them, every face was on him. When he stood up, they cheered. He felt raw, like he'd been on a marathon. He stepped down and walked toward the bar.

The mc joked, "Crap! I have to follow that? Danny'll be signing his new LP, titled, 'I just did you with my piano while your boyfriend watched.' It's scheduled for release, oh, I'd say...Right around closing time? Mother fucker's gonna get a world of love tonight!"

The crowd laughed, as Dan got the occasional pat on the arm as he got closer to his spot by the bar. He was just about to get back to his stool, when he felt a hand go up his back. He turned to see Jesse's breasts hanging out of the tightest dress he'd ever seen. He averted his eyes, and said a quick, "Were you here in time?"

The woman scoffed, "Here in time? I've been cock blockin for the past 45 minutes. She is gorgeous tonight. You are so lucky I like you, because there are some fine boys up in here I could have put her with. When she gets out of the bathroom, I'll bring her over."

"Was she okay with the surprise? I know she hates them. If she's mad, you can tell her I didn't spend a fortune this time," Dan said as he thought about their last dinner date. He'd pulled a lot of strings to get things just the way he'd wanted them. The gold flaked chocolates had been probably a bit over the top, but it was beautiful. She'd complained that a burger joint would have been just fine, but he could tell that she loved all seven courses.

Jesse gave him a shove on his arm, "Girl was ugly crying by the end of that song. It was so bad, a lot of girl's let her cut the line so she could straighten herself out in the bathroom. That song was hot. I had no idea it was supposed to sound like that. I'll be back. I think I see her coming out of the john."

Dan asked for a ginger ale and put down a ten dollar bill. He felt another hand, on the small of his back this time.

"Hey, handsome," he heard the last voice he wanted to hear.

He turned and said a grudging, "Candace."

She had that same smile, "Wow, Donatello. I didn't know you could do half of that with your fingers. I always thought that Jerry was the better player."

He took the veiled insult. "Um, thanks." She moved in to hug him, but he caught her arms and moved them back to her sides. 

She frowned at him, "You're still mad at me?"

"Candy, I'd have to feel something for you to be mad at you."

She seemed shocked, but recovered quickly, "So, what happened with you and the little girl?"

"Oh, nothing much," he smiled to himself when he saw Candy's face brighten. 

He figured that what he had with Joanne would prove itself very shortly. Whatever hopes Candy still harbored would be gone oh too soon. He thought he saw the side of Joanne's face as she moved through the crowd. 

"It was nice to see you, Candy." 

He walked out to find her. He saw that she'd straightened her hair, and she was wearing a pair of gold hoops. She didn't usually wear earrings, unless it was a special occasion or Jesse asked. When he got close enough to see all of her, he froze. The air went out of him in a puff. The gold lace covered cream dress hugged her every curve. There was something about the way that her bottom swayed when she was just standing there. She held a tissue under the long lashes on her right eye as she arched to listen to what Jesse was saying. The little dress accentuated the long, chocolate legs that ended in a pair of gold laced heels. He had this sense that Jesse picked out the outfit by the way that Jo kept tugging the hem down. The thought was confirmed when she turned around. He tried to make his mouth work, but he couldn't. Joanne smiled slightly at him She put her hand over the diamond that was exposing her cleavage and gave him a hug.

"I thought you had to work," she said to him as he put his arm around her.

Daniel tried to sound coherent, "Well, can't think of an excuse, right now. Beautiful woman. Skimpy dress."

She showed him the dress in a slow turn, "It was Jesse's idea. What do you think?"

He thought better of it, but he said anyway, "I think, I want to take it off you." 'Rip it off! Maybe just bunch it up at your waist as I...' He gave himself a mental slap and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. He knew she wouldn't mind. She'd heard him say lots of things more suggestive than that. Joanne just seemed to get embarrassed if he said it in a public place.

"So, how'd you like the song," he asked her.

He watched the happiness fade from her face as she said, "It was beautiful, Dan."

He put his fingers to her cheek. "Hey, no sad stuff. I redid it so it would be a good thing."

"It was a good thing," she buried her face in his chest.

*

Joanne hadn't been paying attention to the other acts. She kept having to avert her eyes from some man that was staring at her. She hated the dress. The hole in it made it impossible to wear a bra. She knew what the men were waiting for. If she leaned over, a breast would pop through that hole. When the mc said his name, she looked up at the stage. Daniel went over the keys quickly, then stopped playing. He seemed to not pay attention to how long he sat there with his eyes closed. 

The crowd was starting to get nervous when he started to play again. "Crush" by Gavin Degraw. He'd been humming the song. He'd also been singing some strange twangy thing recently. She hoped that wouldn't be the next song. She didn't think the public would be ready for Dan's country debut, especially if it involved the booty shaking that he happened to be prone to doing at the time. She smiled to herself at the memory. He finished the song with a vibrato. 

His eyes were still closed when he shook his arms and went into a strange intro that she'd never heard before. It was slow and intricate. It moved into a more intense tone then descended into something she started to recognize. His voice started out in a low tentative hum. She saw him settle in and his voice built into this strong sexy baritone. She'd never heard him sing like that. She felt this trembling in her gut as he got to the chorus. She looked over at Jesse. Her friend reached out and rubbed at her hand in concern. She looked down at her hands, because she was afraid of what she would do if Dan suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her. 

He lapsed into French as he sang the third chorus. She closed her eyes, and felt him breathing next to her ear while they were in bed together. He moaned where the song required it, but it made her thighs start to tingle. Jo jumped when he did it again. She crossed her thighs and then her ankles as the tingling turned into a burn. When he finally finished, he let out a slow ragged sigh. She looked up at his calm face. 

She watched him sit back from the keys and slowly stand up. The cheer was like a slap in the face. She knew exactly why she was crying, but that didn't stop her mascara from running. She covered her face with her hands. 'My god. Why did he have to do that with this song? Why'd he have to do it in public?'

Joanne stood up and raced for some tissues, but she saw the line of women waiting to use the too small facilities. She felt the tears start to run down between her fingers. She thought, 'Oh, great! I'm gonna ruin this dress for sure,' which only made her cry harder.

She stood there bawling for a few seconds as she tried to figure out how to stop the dripping black stream from hitting the dress. A girl in line gave her a napkin and pulled her forward in line.

She yelled up toward the front of the line, "Hey, let this girl wipe her face! CAN'T YOU SEE SHE'S CRYIN?"

It took her longer than expected to get herself together. When she got back to Jesse, she tried to smile and laugh at the joke she was telling. She looked around for Daniel, but she couldn't find him in the dense crowd. Then Jesse pointed over her shoulder and he was standing very still just a few feet away. His mouth was slightly open, and he didn't seem to notice that people were knocking into him. 

'I guess, the dress worked. Jesse told me he'd probably stop dead in his tracks when he saw me.' She couldn't help teasing him a little bit about the surprise, but the shock was over, now. 'He needs to stop these surprises, or he won't have two pennies to rub together.'

When he asked about the song, she couldn't hide the jumble of emotions anymore. Danny was so sweet to want to do that for her. She squeezed him so tight, she could hear his heart beating over the canned music in the bar.

*

Daniel Langier sat down carefully across the table from Joanne's parents. Karen bore into him with those penetrating eyes. He knew this was coming. He wasn't sure how she knew what was going on at Joanne's place, but she seemed to know for a fact that he'd spent the weekend with Joanne. She'd kept her mouth shut when he got back home that day. Shed' pressed her lips together and didn't say a word. His father tried to say something to smooth things over, but she gave David a withering glare. That was coming up on a month ago.

Karen Croix was now sipping the mint iced tea out of a straw and drilling a hole into his face.

"So, whose idea was it to scare the hell out of me, yours or hers?"

"Uh," Dan tried, "we didn't mean to..."

"You had to have been using protection, or I would be seeing a ring on her finger, by now," the frown deepened. "You couldn't wait, could you? I didn't think you could, anyway. You and those puppy dog eyes, don't fool me. From what I've been hearing from Jesse, you've been nothing but conciliation, so I guess, I'm not that mad. Jerry, on the other hand," she sucked on her teeth. "He'd have been removed from this earth, before he knew what happened."

Daniel looked at the condensation on the glass and thought, 'Ask her, now, before she gets on a roll.' "Uh, Mrs. Croix..." 'Say it! Say it!'

Karen raised a hand to stop him from talking, "Don't say something stupid, like it's over. It's not over. I don't care if the statute of limitations says he can't be charged. I've been talking to every newspaper I could get a number for. He's going down for hurtin my baby."

Daniel sat back and let the woman vent. He knew the words were meant for a man that was currently on a European tour. James just sat there and downed his tea. When he'd finished it, the older man set the glass down and said as though Karen hadn't been rambling for a good twenty minutes, "You love my daughter?"

Karen stopped talking. Daniel nodded in the affirmative.

The low gravely voice seemed even more menacing than usual, "That's what this sit down is, right?"

"Yes, sir," Dan tried to make his face relax. He hated when he gritted his teeth. "I wanted to talk to you about our relationship."

James raised one side of his lip and said, "Boy, we don't have a relationship. You obviously don't have any brains if you think you can just go to bed with my daughter."

Dan's cheeks started to burn, "Mr. Croix, I don't go to bed with Jo, unless she wants me to. And, I don't think it should be any of your business."

"You made it our business when you took off with her for three days without so much as a phone call," Karen cut in.

"I didn't take her. We both made a decision." 'Whoa, they're still this mad?' He took a breath and said, "I'm sorry. She should have called you. I should have thought about that, but we spent so much time apart..." 'This sounds so stupid, right now.' "It took us so long to get to where we are, now, it felt like the right thing to do at the time. It was. You'd still be where you were a couple moths ago, if we hadn't spent that time away from everything and everybody. You've probably been hearing more from her, now, right?" He saw the confirmation in Karen's glance toward the pastry bar. 




Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 21



"I asked you here, because I wanted to do this the right way."

They both seemed to sit up straight. He knew they were trying to stop him from doing it. They'd had some more than civil conversations since that day. They were just testing him, again. 'Well, I don't have that kind of time, today.'

"Mr. Croix, I am asking for your daughter's hand in marriage," scuttled out before he'd planned to say it. He stopped the man's response by saying, "I'm not even sure if she'd say yes to me, right now, but I won't ask her if you say you don't want me to. I wouldn't want her to have to choose between us. She loves you so much. She put up with a lot because she loves you so much. We all know that I'm not gonna go away if you say no. If I have to prove what I feel for her, I'll do it. If it takes the next two or four years to help you figure out that I mean it when I say I love her, I'll do that, too. We'll just be having these meetings every so often to see how much I can wear you both down."

Mr. Croix looked down at his empty glass and said, "Can I get another tea before I say what I was going to say?"

*

Joanne laughed as Daniel spun her out one more time. Dan was actually moving on the dance floor instead of his usual tentative steps to save embarrassment.

"What's gotten into you, tonight?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I just felt like dancing."

He pulled her back in and stopped her from moving away. She absolutely shined in the flashing lights. He should have been nervous tonight, but he felt more anxious than anything. He'd been giving her false leads for two whole weeks. She'd let her guard down, finally, yesterday. He could tell because she didn't care how much her skirt rose up, or who was watching them dancing together. She was having fun. He felt his phone vibrate on his leg. He let her go and pointed to the phone as he moved toward the exit.

*

Joanne watched the back of his head as he hunched to try to hear the voice on the phone. She saw his black hair disappear out of the entrance and turned to join Jesse at the bar.

"Damn! I could have sworn he would have done something after graduation," her friend spoke directly into her ear. "What's he waitin for?"

"Nothing, Jesse. I think whatever he had planned wasn't ready yet. I'm not gonna sweat it anymore. You had me all worked up over it last week. You shouldn't have told me anything. Phase one, my ass. This is some long term thing. There may be a phase forty or fifty on his planner. I should check it the next time I stay over."

"You could stay over there, tonight! You can come back to help me pack, later."

"No, I promised," Joanne shook her head. "We'll spend our last night together, and pack you up in the morning."

Dan slid in behind Joanne and put a hand around her waist. She jumped until she realized it was him.

"Trust me," he purred as he tasted the salt on her earlobe.

"Of course," she always answered that way.

"Love me?"

"Absolutely," she looked up at him with that cautious smile she got when she was trying to figure him out.

He smirked, "Absolutely. That's a new addition. You usually say something like, you don't even have to ask." He scratched the back of his head and moved away, "Huh, absolutely. Absolutely, without question?"

"Well, I'll always have a few questions, but..."

He let out a sigh, "Oh, that's better, then. Thought you'd been replaced by a pod person, or something. Can I drop you gorgeous ladies off at home? Pop's got a problem, so I'll have to cut the night short."

*

Joanne and Jesse stayed up past three in the morning laughing and talking about memories of the apartment. After that, it took a while for Jo to get to sleep. She wasn't sure why. She'd been running through the day that her father found out about Jerry. She wasn't sure why it had forced its way back into her head. She'd been doing just fine while she was with Jesse. When she finally turned off the light and settled into bed, she heard this series of horn blasts. She pulled the pillow over her head and rolled away from the window. At first, she thought it was a car alarm, by the way that it repeated, but it changed into a song. She sat up in bed. Then a bright light cast strange shadows all over the room. She went to the window and looked down.

There were five men standing in a semi circle with black beaded suits standing on the street below. There was a curve of lights and speakers that took over the sidewalk across the street. 'Oh, no! Not now! Not Now! I look like crap!' Joanne tied a scarf around her head and searched for her robe as the mariachi started to sing. She caught the baggy T-shirt in her jeans as she kept looking for something to wear outside. They were calling out her name as she found the robe. It suddenly looked flimsier than she remembered. 'Shit! It's never gonna cover me enough.' She opened her room door to Jesse's smiling face.

"I guess, tonight was the night, after all! Here, you can borrow my long coat. Don't make that man wait for you."

Joanne slid the coat over her shoulders and zipped it up over her t-shirt and boxer shorts. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried not to fall down the stairs in her haste to get down to the street.

When she finally got down to the ground floor, the lights had been turned out, and the band was playing softly. She couldn't see the band. There were so many of her neighbors in the way.

Daniel's voice cracked out of a set of speakers, "Ladies, and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for coming out and sharing in this special event. We'll be here for a little while longer, then you can all go back to sleep. I'd like to play one more song, when she gets down here. Joanne? You out here, babe?"

She felt a shove to her back as she heard, "Alright! Clear a path, Stupid Asses! This is her party," come out of Jesse's mouth.

There wasn't enough time to feel embarrassed. She was shoved through the people and into the bright light before she could think. 

Daniel walked out from behind a standing height keyboard and gave her a hug, "As always, you made me wait. What were you two doing up there?"

"Uh, talking, about memories" she said as he pulled away.

Daniel was wearing the same shirt he wore at the club. 'He must have been sitting out here the whole time.' 

"Well, let me get this done, so these people won't be that mad." He walked over to the keyboard and motioned for her to come over. He leaned down and whispered, "I was gonna play another one, but I think this one is pretty appropriate."

When he started, she immediately knew what he'd meant. He sang Overrated by Gavin Degraw. She didn't believe it. He was looking right back at her in that way he looked at her in a cafeteria a little over 6 months ago. The look hadn't changed. He hadn't known everything there was to know that day in the cafeteria, but it didn't matter to him. When he finished the song, she heard the crowd clapping behind her. He stepped out and took her hands.

"How'd you like the serenade? Like the mariachi? It took me a while to get them on standby. they're really popular this time of year," he smirked.

"Daniel, you ...didn't have to ..." She could barely talk, because she was too busy trying not to cry. "I mean, all of this!" She hid the closing of her eyes with a wide smile.

"Oh, yeah, there's one more thing," he looked down and rummaged through the pockets of his jeans.

When he stopped looking for the item, he dropped down to one knee. 'I knew it. I knew he was looking for a ring. Oh! I can't stop crying, now!'

"You don't have to..." Joanne tried to get him to stand up.

He just held on to her hand and said, "Let me do this."

She stepped back and closed her eyes again. Her eyes were so wet, she could clear them. There he was on his knee, and all she could think of was all of the people looking at her. 'I can't do this with everybody watching. Why can't he be normal and do this at a restaurant or after sex.' She felt him take her hand and kiss it.

"Look at me," he said.

She looked down into those slate blue eyes.

"No more running, Jo. I love you. I've loved you for a long time. I've been thinking about things, lately. I'm at the point where I need to make an honest woman out of you or your mom will probably kill me."

The half-hearted joke made her smile. A little ripple of laughter started over her shoulder. She turned to see her neighbors smiling.

"You know what I want? A little privacy," Daniel grunted into the microphone on his collar then pulled it off. He shook his head and blinked at a spot on the sidewalk. He then focused on Joanne's clasped hands.

"Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, I was making a complete idiot out of myself in front of some oh...thirty people."

"Danny? Can I just say yes, now, and get this over with?"

He winked at her, "No way. I'm already down here, and I didn't ask yet."

"But, Danny..."

Daniel shook his head at her, "Do you know what it took to get me down here like this? I'm gonna make this count, because I don't plan on having to do this again. Do you understand me?"

She nodded without another protest.

He took a deep breath and continued, "I want you to know that I've wanted to make babies with you since the first day I saw you. It was strictly a superficial thing. I knew for a fact that any kids you'd have would be gorgeous, and I wanted in on that deal." 

She dropped her head and smiled. 

"No, seriously. It was only later that I figured out that I wanted to be with you. That's all I've ever really wanted. You see, you've been a bit flighty, and I've been a little stupid. Okay, a lot stupid. So, it's taken me a while to get to this, but I think it was worth the wait, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," she sighed.

"So," he raised his left hand. There was a gold band with three diamonds set in a diagonal pinched between his thumb and first finger. "Can we make it official that you'll be spending the rest of your life with me?"

"Yes, Danny. Yes," she moaned as she shoved him back onto the ground and smothered his face in kisses.

The End



Girl Gets Her Man



She turned over the sheet of paper. It was a typed message.

"A little bit about me, so you don't think I'm a stalker or crazy or some sort of jerk.  I'm the reason you get to go home before the sun rises most days. I took the five to eight patch of your observation service. Why, you ask? You intrigued me. I saw you go into the office one evening, and I was both floored and intimidated by your beauty and the idea that you were in my office. When your friend followed you in, I didn't think it would be appropriate to interrupt your intense conversation. What would I have said? Then, I got to thinking that you probably wouldn't give me the time of day.  You usually don't pay much attention, do you? I talked to Dr. S, and he said you were taking most of the observation schedule at night. I am also in two of your classes, but I just run in and out of there. You didn't notice me when I tried to get your attention the first time. I guess, I was too subtle. It's been a while since I've pursued anyone. I prefer to be owned, but will wait patiently on the shelf until my owner claims me. Care to do so? I hope that you know that I mean you no harm after you've accepted my introductory hot chocolates. I figured that coffee would be out of the question because of the late hour. I'll be in the office at about two, which is when I usually drop off the hot chocolate. I'm telling you this so that if you want to be in the office, we'll meet then. If you prefer the pleasure of distance, I will understand but can oblige you for only so long. Daniel."

She looked at her watch. It was 11:30pm. She decided she'd see how she felt when it got closer to 2. She got what she needed and went down to the computer terminals. She'd entered quite a few numbers when a pair of hands covered her face. They were female, so they could only belong to Jesse.

"Guess who," Jesse's voice put her at ease. She giggled as she allowed her friend to turn around. Jo was about to say something mean when she saw Gary standing behind Jesse. His eyes were shining oddly at her. "Look who I brought with me. I figured you could go somewhere alone this time."

'Do I look that horney?' "Why?"

"I didn't get to talk to you at all, really. I thought we could get some coffee and pie. There's this place down the street that's open almost 24 hours. I see this guy making coffee in there when I walk by..."

"Oh, no. I can't have coffee or it will keep me awake when I need to sleep...."

"Then, hot chocolate. Jess told me you like it," he insisted.

"No, I'm sorry. I need to make up for last night."

"Jo, he came all this way..."

"Because you asked him to, I'm sure."

"I didn't have to ask him. He asked about you when I called..." Jesse couldn't hide the guilty smile that crept across her face. Jo knew the girl meant well, so she didn't really feel as mad as she would sound.

"Out. The both of you. Gary, when you actually want to go out with me, give me a call. It's the same number as Jesse's. And you, girlfriend, don't be settin me up no more."

She looked down at her watch. "Oh crap."

"What?"

Jo nearly died when she realized she'd spoken out loud. But the cover came quickly out of her mouth. "It's ten till two. I'm off schedule. I've got to go. The doors will lock behind you when you leave the building."

She hurriedly tossed her papers in her bag and left them in the room. She didn't remember if she shut down her station. It didn't matter. She was too curious. Daniel. She rushed up a flight of stairs and to the elevator. It was a simple name. He definitely didn't write simply. She got to the door at 1:58. The office was empty. She tossed down her bag and sat down at her cube. He wasn't there. No one was there, as usual. She dropped her bag into its usual corner and sat down at her cube. She dropped her head into her hands. 'What was I thinking? There'd be this tall dark and handsome brother coming through that door? Have you seen one of those in class ever? What kind of an idiot are you anyway? A lonely one. Hey, I could still probably go do something with Gary...'

She heard a set of keys outside the door. She froze. 'Maybe, this wasn't such a good idea, after all.' She heard the door creak open. There was silence for a moment, then the door shut quickly. She heard footsteps but didn't raise her head.

"I see your feet," a soft voice broke the silence. "Did you change your mind after you rushed in?"

She looked up and only got to the set of fingers that draped over the top of the cubicle. They were white. They were the palest, longest fingers that she'd ever seen. In her definition of a perfect man, she remembered specifically that her man would be tall, dark, handsome, and have a good personality.

'Okay, bad. Very bad.'

She looked up a little further. 'Tall white guy. Oh, this is bad. Very, very bad.'

"I was surprised to see you at the bar last night. Too bad you didn't hear my second song."

He looked down at her in curiosity. He'd combed his unruly dark brown hair behind his ears and put on a clean shirt, though it was wrinkled. It was the same man who had played that song at The Bans. "Daniel? The piano player?" She knew she sounded like a moron, but she figured no one noticed when she blushed any way. "This is all wrong. Very bad. You're just all wrong."

"Joanne?"

"Hmm," she sighed as she registered the reverent way in which he used her name.

"I don't bite," he soothed as he came around to squat in front of her. He placed a cup on the desk and rested an arm next to it. His fingertips were inches from her leg. "I'm not a leper, and I'm not delusional. I wouldn't be here if I were. What's so wrong about me? I'm white. Is that it? If I could, I'd change that, but..."

"You're white. You're supposed to like..." 'Blonde bimbos with long legs and fake breasts. Or maybe, you're supposed to like 'em big, caramel, and wild like Jesse. You can't like me, I'm the ugly one, remember?' All of those things were impolite to say, so she desperately tried to think of something she could say. "Uh...not me."

"I like you. What I know about you, anyway. There's no need to freak out on me."

"I'm not freaking out." She absolutely was freaking out. "It's just....I was expecting...I need some time...Yeah, to figure something out."

He blinked slowly at the wall over his shoulder for a moment before he asked. "To figure out how to brush me off without hurting my feelings?"

'Yeah!' Jo sat up straighter in her chair and said, "Maybe."

"Then, figure it out with me rather than alone. We could go to a movie. I can open up the shop and ply you with chocolate. You might even like it. I'm not seeing anyone. Are you?"

"Well," she started to lie and say she was.

"I couldn't see you with that big guy from last night. He seemed all wrong. Don't say you're dating him."

She concentrated on her fingers and said, "I might be..."

"Might be. You're interested in him?" When she looked up into those eyes, they were dark, but they weren't brown as she had thought. They were blue, like slate.

"He is kind of sexy. He came here to see me... "

"Sexy, hmm? And yet, you can make a snap judgment about me right away. I'll have to see about that."

"I don't know."

His hand dropped to her knee and she froze. She wasn't used to being touched by anyone. He raised an eyebrow at her. He spread his fingers across her thigh and soothed her with his certain words, "I know." His fingers trailed to her knee and were gone.

He stood up and pointed to the cup on her desk. "I made it myself. Real chocolate. Not that lame cocoa. You want me to wait for you? I don't want you to walk into that parking lot alone. Come to think of it, I'm going to be here when you are, from now on. You may not want me to care, but I do. It's too dangerous for a woman to be by herself late at night. Just think of it as part of the courtship."

He moved to his cubicle. She heard a scraping sound and wrappings dropping into the wastebasket. So, he wasn't a slob after all. Jo looked down at her pant leg. It had tingled like static electricity straight through her leg when he touched her. She smoothed the fabric of that leg and pulled out some of her folders from her pack. 'And, he called me a woman.'

"Too bad," his sigh made her jump. When she looked up in the direction of the sound, he looked down at her from across the barrier. "This does not change my intentions. I'll just wait for you. You obviously haven't had many suitors, so I'll have to teach you."

"I know all I need to know about dating, thank you, Daniel. I'm not into it."

"Dan, please. I didn't say anything about dating," his voice seemed to sing in her ears. "I don't plan to date you.  That never crossed my mind. We'll talk and have a little fun. You'll know..."

A knock came to the door and he dropped down behind the divider. She got up and opened it.

"Hey, Jo. How can you disappear like that?" Jesse shoved her way into the office. "Gary's wondering if you've got some man stashed up..."

Jo braced herself for the gasp that she knew would be coming, but it never came. A quiet, "Hi," came from her as she moved to take Daniel's hand.

"Hello," he responded.

"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Jesse's eyes bore into hers with an odd smile to them.

"Absolutely not," Daniel smiled and opened one of his drawers. He pulled out his calculator and slapped it down on his section of desk. "I was just going to head down to the terminals." He leaned over Joanne and softly intoned, "Joanne, just let me know when you're heading out, okay?"